Income Tax Raids On Liquor Baron Ponty Chadha's Premises

Was Rs 100 crore recovered from the basement of a mall owned by liquor baron Ponty Chadha? A section of the media had claimed so but reports, Today, claimed that no money was found during the raids on Chadha’s premises.

It was reported that I-T sleuths had found a 6X6 feet vault in the basement of the Centrestage Mall in Noida. When the vault was opened using gas cutters – with CRPF provide the security cover - over Rs 100 crore in hard cash was recovered.

But now a section of the media is claiming that only jewellery worth Rs 4 crore and Rs 50 lakh cash was seized, while others claimed that no cash was recovered during raids on Chadha, who is undoubtedly North India’s biggest liquor baron.

Searches were conducted in Delhi at 13 locations including at the posh Sainik Farms and in Lajpat Nagar. In UP, meanwhile, I-T teams comprising 200 officials undertook similar operations at six locations in Noida, Moradabad and the state capital, Lucknow.

Chadha is said to be in Dubai at present in connection with a family function.

The searches were initiated after the department got inputs regarding alleged tax evasion by firms associated with him, the sources said.

The department, according to the sources, were also looking at the possibility of illegal sale of liquor by certain firms in the run up to the UP Assembly polls.

I-T sleuths also searched the properties of two of his alleged associates--Lalit Kapoor and Gurjeet Kochhar--in Delhi and is expected to question them about certain transactions.

As per sources, the searches were also related to the alleged mis-pricing of huge liquor consignments in the state and other places.

56-year-old Chadha shot into limelight after Maywati handed over the entire distributorship of liquor in UP to him.

Besides liquor and multiplexes, Chadha had recently bought five sugar mills in UP and also ventured into film production.

In 2009, media reports pegged his enterprise at over Rs 6000 crore in size by quoting the man himself.

Cold wave continues north India, people dead

Cold wave continues to spread havoc in Northern India with dense fog and low visibility hitting normal life and disrupting movement of trains and flight operations in most parts of the region.

Reports on Monday claimed that severe cold has claimed the lives of at least 140 people in this season so far as rain coupled with snowfall aggravated the cold wave. Cold wave conditions continued unabated in Kashmir Valley with minimum temperatures remaining several degrees below the freezing point.

Apart from snow, Kashmir is also facing a power crisis. Two people are reported to have died due to the cold in Kashmir.

Meanwhile, dense fog enveloped many parts of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh today affecting normal life even as bitter cold persisted in the region.

Heavy snowfall has disrupted life in Himachal Pradesh, with temperature in Kangra dipping to -4.0 degree Celsius yesterday. In Manali, the temperature recorded was around -7.0 degree Celsius. Dharamshala experienced snowfall of upto 4 feet in the upper terrains and 1 foot in lower areas.

Heavy snowfall has disrupted life in Himachal Pradesh, with temperature in Kangra dipping to -4.0 degree Celsius.

Punjab continues to reel under harsh cold conditions. Pathankot yesterday experienced its first snow fall in decades, a phenomenon which the Met dismissed as 'freak' happening due to change in wind directions. In Ludhiana the temperature was recorded at 6.0 degrees and Pathankot dipped to 3.0 degree minimum.

In Delhi, the minimum temperature settled at 6 degree Celsius and those bearing the brunt of the cold are the homeless, as is the case every year.

The MeT department has issued an advisory warning land and air transport systems of the state may be disrupted as the western disturbances, which cause rains and snowfall, over the state are likely to intensify.

Fog has affected normal movement of trains passing through various states and many were delayed by hours. It reduced visibility at Amritsar, Ludhiana, Patiala and Jalandhar while in Haryana, it prevailed in Rohtak, Karnal, Ambala, Panipat and Kurukshetra.