Bowring fiasco: Avinash was go-to guy for city's elite

Avinash Amarlal Kukreja, the Bengaluru-based businessman being interrogated by Income Tax sleuths following the discovery of valuables worth several crores at lockers in Bowring Institute, was to move in to a posh new apartment at Kingfisher towers in UB City next month.

A day after I-T sleuths took over the case following a complaint by office-bearers of Bowring Institute, several interesting facts about Avinash’s business have come out in the open. Contrary to reports that his family hailed from Rajasthan, I-T sources revealed that Avinash belonged to the influential Sindhi community of Bengaluru and his ancestors hailed from Shikarpur in the Sindh province of Pakistan.

Son of financier Seth Assardas Amarlal, Avinash was into several ventures, ranging from real estate to automobiles to financing. According to sources, the family was a one-stop solution for politicians, builders and film producers in financial distress. They used to give loans in crores against property as surety. Though he owned a tyre showroom and a part of Padmamba Rice Mills Pvt Ltd and Anushka Constructions Pvt Ltd, Avinash was known as a financier and financial broker in the power corridors of Bengaluru.

I-T sources also revealed that he was a designated partner in a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) called Vaishnavi Anushka Infrastructure. Presently residing at Shantinagar, Avinash had recently acquired a new apartment in UB City and was preparing to move in to the house next month.

Whenever I-T sleuths raided builders and businessmen in the city, Avinash, too, had come on the radar. He was previously raided in 2011 when I-T sleuths conducted searches on a Mangaluru-origin builder in Bengaluru. However, now Avinash is said to have directly landed in trouble with valuables worth crores recovered from his lockers in Bowring Institute.

While preparing an inventory of the seized materials and cash, the I-T sleuths have roped in a famous jewellery chain in Bengaluru to ascertain the value of the ornaments. The jewellers reportedly spent three to fours hours on each of the ornament to assess its value. “Each of the bangles has more than 25 diamonds on it,” a source revealed.

Hong Kong dollars worth several crores are also among the recovered valuables. Avinash’s sister is married to a businessman in Hong Kong. Sleuths are investigating about the source of income. The guidance value of properties, whose documents have been seized, alone amounts to more than Rs 700 crore.

Of the documents recovered, some are said to have crucial evidence pertaining to ongoing I-T investigations on various personalities in Bengaluru. This was precisely the reason behind Avinash’s constant demand to Bowring Institute’s office-bearers to return the document files.