I-T raids premises of BMC standing committee chairman Yashwant Jadhav and others

Senior I-T officers said the searches were in connection with alleged money laundering of ₹15 crore by the Jadhav family with the help of a Kolkata-based shell company

Mumbai: The Income tax department on Friday carried out a major search operation in Mumbai by simultaneously conducting searches at 33 premises, including the residence of Yashwant Jadhav, chairman of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) standing committee, over suspected tax evasion.

I-T sleuths reached Jadhav’s Mazgaon residence on Friday morning along with Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel and started searching the premises (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

Senior I-T officers said the searches were in connection with alleged money laundering of ₹15 crore by the Jadhav family with the help of a Kolkata-based shell company. They said that the agency has received several complaints of corruption against Jadhav.

I-T raids come ahead of the BMC election and at a time when the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government has accused the BJP of using central agencies against it.

I-T sleuths reached Jadhav’s Mazgaon residence on Friday morning along with Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel and started searching the premises.

Bank accounts and property documents of Yashwant Jadhav, his wife Yamini who is a Shiv Sena assembly member from Byculla, and both their sons are being scrutinised by the agency. I-T officers also questioned their staff, including personal assistants.

The officials said that multiple teams from the investigation wing of the Income Tax department, Mumbai, covered 33 premises, including Jadhav’s residence, office, and business premises of his close associates and five major civic contractors.

One of the places that were raided by I-T includes Walkeshwar residence of a very influential BMC contractor who is believed to have good clout in the corporation.

Highly placed sources said that the central tax agency is covering contractors closely associated with the Sena leader. Multiple complaints were received by the Directorate of Investigation, Mumbai I-T about cartelisation in BMC contracts and this prompted the agency to initiate a massive search operation.

The searches were conducted under section 132(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Tax department sources said that Jadhav’s close political aides are also under scanner.

Yashwant Jadhav has been the head of the BMC’s standing committee, considered as the most lucrative civic panel, since 2019. The committee approves proposals involving all expenditures over ₹50 lakh. The BMC is one of the richest civic bodies in the country with an annual budget of over ₹45,000 crore.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirit Somaiya has accused Jadhav of involvement in money laundering to park money obtained from alleged scams.

The alleged money laundering probe against Jadhav was opened by the I-T sleuths in 2019. The tax department had found alleged discrepancies in the election affidavit of Yamini that she had filed for the year 2019 Assembly polls. The I-T team suspects the irregularities were allegedly worth ₹15 crore.

As per Yamini Jadhav’s election affidavit, she availed an unsecured loan, including one from Pradhan Dealers Pvt Ltd, of ₹1 crore. During the probe, the I-T department learnt that Pradhan Dealers was a shell firm that was used in the alleged money laundering.

The I-investigation also revealed that the shareholding companies of the firm Pradhan Dealers are two Kolkata-based companies and three individuals were shown as (dummy) directors of these companies. A Kolkata-based entry operator was operating the dummy directors. Through the shell company, the entry operators brought entries in the Pradhan Dealers’ books in exchange for unaccounted cash allegedly received from Jadhavs. Later Jadhav allegedly availed the same money as a loan from Pradhan Dealers.

Central tax agency’s action on Shiv Sena’s strongest persons in BMC just a few months before the BMC election is also seen as a result of the political influence of BJP-led Union Government on central law enforcement agencies by many.