I-T dept attaches Rs 300-cr alleged benami assets of Bhujbal, family

The department alleged assets were allegedly created by them using a maze of about 4 dozen shell cos

Alleged benami assets worth Rs 300 crore of Nationalist Congress Party leader Chagan Bhujbal and his family have been attached by the income tax department, which has slapped charges under a newly-enacted criminal law against them.

The department alleged the assets were allegedly created by them using a maze of about four dozen shell companies.

In fresh trouble for the jailed former deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, the I-T department has issued notices for provisional attachment of assets of Bhujbal, son Pankaj and nephew Sameer Bhujbal, and has identified them as “beneficiaries” of the alleged benami assets. The attachment notice, accessed by PTI, has been issued under Section 24(3) of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 2016 (where the taxman thinks the person in possession of the property held benami may alienate the property). 

The immovable assets attached under the order include Girna sugar mills in Nashik valued at over Rs 80.97 crore and multi-storeyed residential building Solitaire in Mumbai's Santacruz West area valued at more than Rs 11.30 crore.

While the mills are in the name of Armstrong Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, the house is in the name of Parvesh Construction Pvt Ltd.