I-T raids Yogendra Yadav's sister's hospital; Rs 2.2 mn cash recovered

Yogendra Yadav took to Twitter to also allege that the Modi government was "targeting" his family through the raid

The Income Tax Department has recovered about Rs 2.2 million cash during raids on multiple premises of a hospital group in Haryana's Rewari, related to Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav, after it was detected that they allegedly made cash payments to a Nirav Modi firm for purchasing jewellery, officials said.

They said the tax department searched the Kalawati hospital and Kamla Nursing Home and the residences of its main partner Dr Gautam Yadav and others.

"A total of three premises are being searched by the ITD sleuths from the investigation wing of Haryana. A team of about 40 tax officials and a contingent of police personnel executed the action," a senior official said.

It is understood that Gautam Yadav is the nephew of Yogendra Yadav and son of his sister Dr Neelam Yadav.

Officials said the tax department carried out the action acting on inputs received from a dossier of information from the Nirav Modi group, absconding from probe in the USD 2 billion PNB fraud case, and it was found that Gautam Yadav paid Rs 325,000 cash, out of the total Rs 650,000, in cash for purchase of jewellery from the diamantaire's firm.

They added that the searches also covered Dr Narender Singh Yadav and Rs 2.2 million cash was recovered from the residence of the Yadavs.

"The current cash limit in the hand of a person is Rs 2 lakh and the source of this cash amount of Rs 2.2 million is being probed," an official said.

When asked about the ITD allegations, Yogendra Yadav told PTI "the question is whether this money is unaccounted for? I do not know about the accounts of the hospitals."

The department also trashed Yogendra Yadav's allegations that the raiding teams of the department sealed the hospital and the ICU as a few "caesarian section deliveries" also took place during the time of the searches, which is part of the 'panchnama'.

They added that all the CCTVs of the searched premises, including the hospitals, were kept operational and they have recorded all the search proceedings that began at 11 AM.

Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav has alleged that the raids were carried out with an intent to "intimidate" and "silence" him as he had launched an agitation for fair crop price for farmers and against liquor shops in that city in Haryana.

Yadav, who started his campaign with a nine-day 'padyatra' (march) that ended two days ago, said the place and the timing of the "raid" was to send a message not just to me but also to the many farmers who are fighting for their rights.

Earlier in the day, he took to Twitter to also allege that the Modi government was "targeting" his family through the raid.