Bhubaneswar: The Income Tax department has reportedly attached 10 high value apartments in Bhubaneswar and 11.2 acres of land in Cuttack district allegedly acquired by a Delhi-based man from Odisha through benami holdings funded by illegal mining.
Ten high value apartments in Kalinganagar area of Bhubaneswar and 11.2 acres of land at Athagarh in Cuttack district belonging to one Tapas Ranjan Panda have been seized. After thorough probe, the benami properties were provisionally attached by Benami Prohibition Unit of I-T department in Bhubaneswar, I-T officials were quoted by HT as saying.
The properties were initially acquired in the names of two benami entities – Truism Infratech Pvt Ltd and True Aid Foundation which were managed and controlled by Panda through his relatives and employees.
It was found during probe that Panda carried out illegal stone mining at Dankari hill at Chadheidhara under Dharmashala tehsil of Jajpur district. The state government did not allot any mining license for stone quarry for the same from 2014 onwards. However, during a search conducted by I-T department in June 2022, it was found that Rs 200 crores of stone and stone aggregates were sold by Panda to several people, the official said.
The sale consideration was channelled to his benami companies/firms and from the same unaccounted money land at Bhadrak, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and houses in various apartments located at Bhubaneswar, Gurugram and Ghaziabad. The same benami properties were later re-transferred to his and his wife’s name through layering of transactions,” the official added.
Panda also used to file false income tax and GST return through bogus billing to legitimise the property acquired in the name of benamidars.
The assets confiscated under Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016 can be provisionally attached for 90 days, followed by adjudication at the nearest adjudication authority. If proven benami, it vests with the government. The Act aimed to tackle black money and tax evasion, particularly in real estate, has penalty provisions ranging from rigorous imprisonment of 1 to 7 years and a fine up to 25% of the property’s fair market value, officials said.
