Rs 400 cr property of Mayawati's brother attached

In further trouble for BSP chief Mayawati, the Income Tax Department has attached a 'benami' property worth Rs 400 crore in Uttar Pradesh's Noida "beneficially owned" by her brother Anand Kumar and his wife Vichiter Lata.

Kumar was recently appointed BSP national vice president. The provisional order to attach the seven-acre plot was issued by I-T Department's Benami Prohibition Unit (BPU).

The IT Department action came following an investigation into a case against the couple on their investments in high-value properties in New Delhi and Noida and in companies promoted by them.

Officials said a five-star hotel and other luxury facilities are planned to be created in the seven-acre plot in Sector 94 of Noida, which was attached by the IT Department.

According to the order, the attached asset is considered a 'benami' property of Kumar and his wife and it measures 28,328.07 square meters (around seven acres) and its book value is around Rs 400 crore.

Officials claimed Kumar had acquired this property when Mayawati was Chief Minister in Uttar Pradesh between 2007 and 2012. The IT Department was not satisfied with Kumar's explanations about the real estate he amassed in Noida and went ahead with the attachment process.

The I-T Department has unearthed a "complex web of shareholding" in six firms, Kumar and Lata were the sole beneficiaries, they said adding hawala route was used to purchase the plot.

PTI reported that the companies identified as 'benamidars' in the I-T Department order were Vision Town Planners Private Limited, BPTP International Trade Center Pvt Ltd, Euro Asia Mercantile Pvt Ltd, Sunny Cast and Forge Pvt Ltd, Karishma industries Pvt Ltd and Ad-Fin Capital Services India Pvt. Ltd.