Kanpur businessperson Piyush Jain was arrested by central agencies on Sunday, 26 December, on charges of tax evasion. Surendra Kumar, Goods and Services Tax joint commissioner (Kanpur), told PTI that Jain is likely to be taken to Ahmedabad from Kanpur for further action.
Cash worth over Rs 257 crore was found during Income Tax raids conducted at the house, factory, office, cold store, and petrol pump linked to Jain in Kanpur, Kannauj, Mumbai, and Gujarat on Thursday, 23 December.
According to an India Today report, documents relating to 16 expensive properties were found during the raid at his house. Four of those properties are in Kanpur, 7 in Kanauj, 2 in Mumbai and 1 in Delhi. Two properties were also traced in Dubai. In addition, several kilograms of gold was seized from his house.
The perfume trader, Jain, is reportedly close to Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav.
The investigation lasted for over 120 hours and Jain was interrogated for nearly 50 hours before being arrested, added the report. The officials also found 18 lockers from his ancestral home in Kanauj, along with a bunch of around 500 keys with which they were trying to open the lockers.
According to Hindustan Times, another ten crore rupees was seized from his premises later: five crores from his factory in Kannauj and another five crores from his residence. In addition, unaccounted sandalwood oil, perfumes worth crores were also seized from Jain's factory.
Visuals of his properties captured note-counting machines scattered on the floor, surrounded by piles of cash bound in plastic and tape.
The raids were held by the Ahmedabad branch of the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) with the help of local central GST officers, reports had said.
On the day of the searches, Jain reportedly ran away after DGCI members and the GST officers reached his premises, reported the daily. However, he returned two hours later after several calls were made to him by the investigating officers.
'Currency Notes Coming Out of Their Walls': UP CM Attacks SP
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath attacked SP and said that money was "coming out of their walls".
"For the past two-three days, continuous raids are being conducted on the premises of a person belonging to the SP. Rupees 257 crore in cash and several kilograms of gold and silver was recovered. This money belongs to the poor. There is also evidence of how it was looted," Adityanath said.
"While the Bharatiya Janata Party's double engine governments are working with full commitment, you must have seen, those who are out of power for five years, even today crores of currency notes are coming out of their walls," he added.
Who is Piyush Jain?
Piyush Jain, a resident of Anandpuri, belongs to Chhipatti in Kannauj. He owns a house, perfume factory, cold store, petrol pump in Kannauj, reported IANS.
According to officials, the businessman has around 40 companies, including two in the Middle East.
The cash recovered from the premises was part of the sales proceeds, which were secretly stored in the house. The pan masala trader was said to have committed massive tax evasion, reported ANI.
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