Taxmen swoop down on Sahara office in Lucknow

The Sahara Group is the owner of the IPL Pune team. It paid a whopping Rs 1,700 crore to win the bid.

According to sources, three teams of the I-T department comprising 16 members from Lucknow and Kanpur arrived at the Sahara India’s head office at Kaporthala and conducted a ‘survey’.
Sources said that the searches centred around the sources of funding for purchasing the Pune team by the Sahara group and other details of the bidding.

“The I-T team sought documents relating to the company’s IPL bid and the same were provided to them,” a Sahara official told Deccan Herald here on condition of anonymity.

“We are cooperating with the I-T department.....we have nothing to hide,” the official said. He, however, denied that there was a raid by the I-T sleuths. “It’s a routine survey,” the official said.

The I-T department is conducting raids at the offices of IPL franchisees as part of the ongoing inquiry into the controversies surrounding the IPL bid. The I-T department, while confirming the searches, remained tightlipped about the seizures, if any.