Benami properties worth crores belonging to Ajit Pawar have been provisionally seized by the Income Tax Department

The Income Tax Department has sent a letter to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and prominent NCP leader Ajit Pawar, alerting him that many Benami properties belonging to him and his family have been provisionally attached.

According to reports, the central agency has seized properties belonging to the NCP politician in various states worth over Rs 1,000 crore.

The Benami Property Wing of the Income Tax Department has provisionally attached a flat worth Rs 20 crores in South Delhi, Parth Pawar's office at Nirmal House, estimated to be worth Rs 25 crores, a sugar factory in Jarandeshwar worth around Rs 600 crores, and a resort in Goa worth around Rs 250 crores.

In addition, the government agency has provisionally attached 27 parcels of land across Maharashtra, with a combined market value of about 500 crores. Ajit Pawar and his family are thought to hold all of these assets.

Ajit Pawar, Sharad Pawar's nephew, now has 90 days to establish that the linked properties were not purchased with Benami (undisclosed and illegal) funds.

Ajit Pawar is unable to sell any of these properties until the I-T department completes its investigation. Ajit Pawar, the second most senior NCP leader, is being investigated by federal authorities for acquiring vast amounts of illegal property worth hundreds of crores.

Apart from Ajit Pawar, the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI are investigating senior NCP leader and former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh for alleged extortion and money laundering.

Following inspections at the offices of two real estate businesses in Mumbai affiliated to Ajit Pawar's family, the Revenue Tax Department discovered undeclared income worth Rs 184 crore last month.

The central tax authorities claimed the evidence acquired during searches at roughly 70 locations spanning Mumbai, Pune, Baramati, Goa, and Jaipur indicated "many prima-facie unaccounted and Benami transactions,"several prima-facie unaccounted and Benami transactions".

Pawar had stated at the time that he had no objections to the searches being conducted against him, but that he was upset that his sisters were implicated. According to the I-T department, the two real estate companies allegedly poured undeclared funds across multiple entities through "suspicious" transactions including "involvement of an influential Maharashtra family."

The government agency stated in a statement that "incriminating documents proving unaccounted income of about Rs 184 crore of the two organisations have been uncovered." The tax agency examined a firm where Pawar's son, Parth, is a director; a couple firms owned by Pawar's sisters; two real estate firms linked to Pawar; and the offices of directors of four sugar mills around the state allegedly indirectly tied to the Pawar family on October 7.