IT raids on top Pune businessman, state Congress leader

A team of Mumbai Income Tax Department raided the houses and offices of a top Pune businessman and the Maharashtra Pradesh Youth Congress chief, official sources said here on Friday.

The IT sleuths raided well-known businessman Avinash Bhosale and his son-in-law Vishwajeet P. Kadam, who is the state youth Congress president and son of powerful Congress leader Patangrao Kadam.

The reason behind the raids -- which are still going on under a massive police escort -- are not known and the number of locations targeted is unclear.

The IT team arrived here this morning and proceeded to various locations. In the offices, they confiscated the mobile phones of all employees and police manned the security offices as the raids were underway.

According to the sources, the raids were carried out at multiple locations including Bhosale's company headquarters, ABIL Group at Ganeshkhind near the Pune University campus, his home in Baner and Kadam's private residence at Sinhgad, besides his office.

The Maharashtra Congress cried foul at the raid on Kadam and said "this is continuation of the vendetta politics" pursued by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) both at the Centre and in states against the Congress and other opposition parties.

"There is no action taken against their own leaders against whom there are severe allegations, but various agencies are hounding the Congress and opposition parties ever since the BJP came to power," state Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said.

Around 10 years ago, the low-profile Bhosale, who is a realty developer and into hotel business, was arrested by the Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) from Mumbai Airport and later released on bail.

Similarly, Kadam, married to Bhosale's daughter Swapnali Bhosale, was the wealthiest candidate in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections which he lost to the BJP nominee.

His father Patangrao Kadam is a front-ranking Congress politician and a former cabinet minister in Maharashtra, besides running the famed Bharatiya Vidyapeeth, a Deemed University with several educational insitutions under its fold.

Bhosale lives in a huge well-appointed mansion, often called a "palace" by the locals with a private heliport for his helicopter, and owns a fleet of BMWs and Rolls Royces parked in the garage.

--IANS

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