The Income Tax Department is reportedly conducting raids at the offices of independent think tank Center for Policy Research (CPR), international NGO Oxfam, and Independent and Public-Spirited Media Foundation (IPSMF).

The Quint reports that the raids are being conducted simultaneously in five states – Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. The raids come in wake of a recommendation from the Election Commission to probe allegations of tax evasion against Registered Unrecognised Political Parties (RUPP) and their allegedly dubious financial transactions. The EC had recently struck down names of 198 RUPPs when they were found to be non-existent during physical verification. The entities raided today are allegedly associated with such RUPPs and have aided in their funding.

According to NDTV, the raid began at the CPR office in Delhi at noon, when ten officers of the IT Department landed up demanding to inspect accounts. CPR, established in 1973, was previously headed by Pratap Bhanu Mehta, a known critic of the present regime. Meenakshi Gopinath, a former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) professor and former principal of Lady Shri Ram college, is its current chairperson. While Yamini Aiyar is its president and chief executive, board members include former foreign secretary Shyam Saran and IIM professor Rama Bijapurkar.

According to CPR’s website (https://cprindia.org/funding-support/), it is “recognised as a not-for-profit society by the Government of India, and contributions to the Centre are tax exempt.” The website further says, “CPR receives grants from the Indian Council for Social Science Research (ICSSR), and is a Department of Science and Technology (DST) recognised institution. CPR receives grants from a variety of domestic and international sources, including foundations, corporate philanthropy, governments, and multilateral agencies.”

Meanwhile, The Quint reports that raids are also on at offices of Oxfam India. Oxfam is an international organization, that according to its website  (https://www.oxfamindia.org/about-us) is “a movement of people working to end discrimination and create a free and just society.” Its India chapter engages in research and advocacy, and works to “ensure that Adivasis, Dalits, Muslims, and women and girls have safe-violence free lives with freedom to speak their mind, equal opportunities to realize their rights, and a discrimination free future.”

The third entity to be raided is Independent and Public-Spirited Media Foundation (IPSMF), which once funded the independent news portal The Wire, which has often been targeted by the regime for openly criticizing its policies.

Readers would recall that raids had been conducted at the offices of Amnesty India to probe allegations of illegal foreign funding. In 2018, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had conducted searches in connection with alleged violation of foreign direct investment norms linked to a previous case of revocation of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licence of the NGO by the Union Home Ministry in 2010. The ED had also frozen over a dozen bank accounts of environmental NGO Greenpeace and its linked entity after it conducted searches at premises of Amnesty International in Bengaluru on charges of alleged forex violations after taking cognisance of the FCRA action against it. Then in November 2019, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted raids at the Bengaluru head office of Amnesty International India in connection with accusations that the non-profit had received foreign funds. The government had earlier declined permission to the Amnesty International India Foundation Trust that had been critical of security agencies in several cases including the arrest of activists such as Sudha Bharadwaj, Rona Wilson and Varavara Rao, who was accused of being a Maoist ideologue, for receiving foreign funds.  

Related:

Amnesty International targeted once again, this time by CBI
Amnesty, Greenpeace accuse Indian government of impeding work
“Rights Groups Being Treated Like Criminal Enterprises”: Amnesty On Raids

The post IT raids on at offices of Oxfam, CPR, IPSMF? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Income Tax department is reported to be conducting raids on at the Dainik Bhaskar group’s premises across the country, stated multiple breaking news reports on Thursday, June 22. The raids have been going on since early morning at the media groups premises in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. However, while no official statement has been issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) yet Indian Express, and other media reported that tax officials have confirmed that these searches are now underway. Dainik Bhaskar is one of the largest newspaper groups in the country, and has been read widely for its extensive on ground coverage during the Covid-19 second wave. Its reporters covered the massive death toll across the country, and were one of the few media groups reporting from smaller towns and cities.

Soon after the issue of deaths due to due to acute shortage of oxygen in the second wave was raised in the Rajya Sabha and Health and Family Welfare Minister, Mansukh Mandaviya said no “reports of patients dying due to shortage of oxygen and lack of hospital facilities in the country have been received by the Ministry from any State/UT”, the Dainik Bhaskar once again put out its reports online testifying to death due to lack of oxygen in at least five cities in Madhya Pradesh alone.

ऑक्सीजन की कमी से मौत का सच: दूसरी लहर के दौरान भास्कर डिजिटल पर आईं ऐसी 5 खबरें, जो खुद ऑक्सीजन की कमी से मौत की गवाही दे रहीं हैंhttps://t.co/AJOmi8ahoy #oxygen #OxygenShortage #CoronaSecondWave

— Dainik Bhaskar (@DainikBhaskar) July 21, 2021

Over the next two days, Dainik Bhaskar’s social media handle continued to put out a series of its archival reports that showed a mirror to  the Union Government’s claims of no deaths due to lack of oxygen during the second wave. It has also been following and reporting on the Pegasus spyware scandal as well over the past few days.

पेगासस जाजूसी लिस्ट में शामिल पत्रकार बोले: सिर्फ सफाई देने से काम नहीं चलेगा, जब हम अपराधी और देशद्रोही नहीं है तो सरकार बताए कि किसके इशारे पर जासूसी हो रही थीhttps://t.co/q8fbJl6Sw0 @sandhyadwivedi1 #Pegasus #PegasusSpyware

— Dainik Bhaskar (@DainikBhaskar) July 21, 2021

Hours after its continued reportage on the two issues was amplified on social media as well, news of the raids by the Income Tax Department started flowing in on various media handles and groups. According to some reports the allegations against the media group include alleged tax evasion. At some of the cities, the searches are also being conducted in connection with a tax evasion case, at multiple locations including Promoters’ residences and offices.

The newspaper had also reported that over two thousand bodies had been found on the banks of the Ganga river, its team had reported from 27 districts, spanning 1140 kms in Uttar Pradesh. The report had flagged that the situation was the worse in  Kanpur, Unnao, Ghazipur and Ballia. Both these reports had got international attention and were followed up by all media outlets in India, and many leading ones abroad.

The paper’s Bhopal edition had also been one of the first to publish an aerial photograph, taken via a drone, of scores of funeral pyres being lit at Bhadbhada Ghat, the city’s largest crematorium, reported NewsLaundry in an analysis of the group’s coverage. The DB had headlined the story thus: “Government data on deaths is a lie, these burning pyres are telling the truth.” htt

image from newslaundry

A few days before that in Gujarat, the Divya Bhaskar called out state BJP president, CR Patil, claiming to give 5,000 remdesivir vials for free to Covid patients when the state, and the country was facing a shortage of the drug. The newspaper made his phone number public after the Chief minister Vijay Rupani told the media ‘to to ask Patil’ when questioned how such a large quantity of the drug was available with the politician when the public was struggling for it. The front page went viral.

image from social media

The raids on the media group have evoked strong reactions from beyond the media fraternity. Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh tweeted that this was “just the beginning. They would go more vindictive as opposition grows Nationally. All should get together to condemn it and fight the ModiShah duo at every level.”

पत्रकारिता पर मोदीशाह का प्रहार!! मोदीशाह का एक मात्र हथियार IT ED CBI!
मुझे विश्वास है अग्रवाल बंधु डरेंगे नहीं।

दैनिक भास्कर के विभिन्न ठिकानों पर इनकम टैक्स इन्वेस्टिगेशन विंग की छापामार कार्रवाई शुरू…

प्रेस कॉन्प्लेक्स सहित आधा दर्जन स्थानों पर मौजूद है इनकम टैक्स की टीम

— digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) July 22, 2021

Dainik Bhaskar is raided by IT Dept soon after they expose Modi Govt on Covid deaths & snooping on Opp, Judges, EC, Journalists and Activists by spyware #Pegasus.
How brazen will the Govt become? The stifling of Democracy & rights today are definitely worse than during Emergency pic.twitter.com/HaLcG88Xfo

— Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) July 22, 2021

Income Tax raids on Bharat Samachar news channel too

Income Tax raids are also being conducted  at the offices of Uttar Pradesh based news channel Bharat Samachar. According to the channel its Editor-in-Chief Brijesh Mishra’s house has been raided, as has the home of its state head Virendra Singh. These raids too bagan on Thursday morning the channel tweeted. Editor-in-Chief Brijesh Mishra told his team that the media had a Constitutional right to raise questions and that the channel is not going to be intimidated by such actions.

#Lucknow

यूपी के प्रतिष्ठित न्यूज चैनल पर IT का छापा

भारत समाचार के दफ्तर पर आईटी का छापा

एडिटर इन चीफ बृजेश मिश्रा के घर पर छापा

स्टेट हेड वीरेंद्र सिंह के घर पर भी IT की रेड

भारत समाचार के कर्मचारियों के घर पर छापा

सुबह से इनकम टैक्स टीम कर रही छापेमारी। pic.twitter.com/n7sPeCXNKA

— भारत समाचार (@bstvlive) July 22, 2021

#BharatSamachar pic.twitter.com/6VSCfqvcFM

— NDTV (@ndtv) July 22, 2021

Related

From newsrooms to courtrooms
Press Freedom in India – 2021: A half-yearly report
Pegasus spyware trotting into ministers’ phones, who is next?

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The IT raids unleashed on actor Taapsee Pannu and others are part of a desperate attempt by the central government to harass and attack farmers and supporters, said the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) on March 3, 2021.

In a press release issued by the farmers organisation, members stated that despite numerous objectionable attempts, the farmers’ movement continues to gather strength. Over the last two months, many international and national celebrities, well-known individuals and organisations lent their support in farmers opposition to the three farm laws – the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance & Farm Services Act, the Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act.

“Instead of fulfilling the farmers’ legitimate demands, the government is seeking ways to harass and attack farmers and supporters. The SKM condemns this. We acknowledge the fearless support by many to the farmers’ movement,” said farmer leader Darshan Pal.

Earlier on Wednesday, Income Tax officials raided properties of filmmaker Anurag Kashyap and actress Taapsee Pannu over alleged tax evasion. The raided places included a talent agency and Phantom Films, which was co-promoted by Anurag Kashyap and Producers Vikas Bahl and Madhu Mantena, reported the NDTV.

Both Pannu and Kashyap have previously spoken against central government policies. Most recently, Pannu had criticised celebrities pushing the “India Against Propaganda” hashtag on social media that decried a tweet by pop star Rihanna regarding the farmers’ agitation.

At the time, she tweeted, “If one tweet rattles your unity, one joke rattles your faith or one show rattles your religious belief, then it’s you who has to work on strengthening your value system not become propaganda teachers for others.”

Similarly, Kashyap had vocally condemned the violence against anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protesters in 2019.

According to Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar, the department called for the raids based on “whatever information they get.” Nonetheless, several ministers in Maharashtra denounced the raids.

“The way in which raids were conducted in the homes and offices of Anurag Kashyap and Taapsee Pannu, this is definitely the usage of Enforcement Directorate or the Income Tax against those who take a stand against the government or its policies. This action is an attempt to suppress their voices,” Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik told news channels.

Earlier, news website NewsClick faced similar raids by I-T officials under alleged charges of money-laundering. Refuting all allegations, the news website said it will continue to speak truth to power.

Related:

BJP begins to pay a political price as farmers’ struggle completes three months
Farmers focus on assembly election stating “govt only understands votes”
2020-2021: The historic farmers agitation and its significance
‘Toolkit’ case: Nikita Jacob moves Delhi HC for pre-arrest bail
March will witness mahapanchayats across India, says the SKM
Re-Plug: 28 protests in 22 days! Kranti ka Naqsha (Mapping the Revolution) brings the latest updates
Mainstream media overlooked farmers’ protests in South India: Farmers’ leaders

The post IT raids, govt’s desperate attempt to attack farmer supporters: SKM appeared first on SabrangIndia.

About ten survivors of the North East Delhi communal violence of February 2020, came out in support of their advocate, Mehmood Pracha, at a press conference in Delhi on December 25, reported The Caravan. Parcha’s office had been raided on December 24 by Delhi Police Special Cell.

Khursheed Saifi and Feroze Akhtar, who survived a near-fatal attack by Hindutva rioters and security personnel at the Farooqia Masjid in the Brijpuri area of North East Delhi’s Mustafabad locality told media persons at the Press Club of India about how the police threatened them to alter their FIR’s to falsely implicate Mehmood Pracha.

Khursheed claimed that he approached Pracha after the police refused to register his complaint. He said he had identified three members of the armed mob by name. “Police would pressurise me; do you know the people who you have named in the complaint,” he asked, alleging that the Police wanted him to change his testimony.

The Caravan further reported that according to Saifi, the police had directly asked him to switch his lawyer and “give a statement that whatever three names are written in your complaint, they are false.” He said that the policemen regularly visited his shop to threaten him, allegedly saying things like: “You didn’t change, we will see you”; “We will get your shop shut”; “Give a false testimony against Pracha and we will leave you or we will implicate you in the riots”; “We will kill you.”

Feroze Akhtar, who also shared his dilemma about State excesses and arbitrary treatment by the Police, said that he felt compelled to shift houses to avoid harassment. He alleged that the Police did not even spare his family as they were subjected by random attacks, including an incident where his son was beaten up by unknown people. He also recalled an incident where he was pushed from his two-wheeler asking him to not pursue his case.

He also received a call from the Police Station where the caller asked, “If you are fighting the case, should we get your lawyer changed? We will give you a lawyer. Which statements have you given that Mehmoodji has made you write?” When Feroze said that it was his statement, the caller responded, “At least some lines must have been narrated by Mehmood bhai?”

Feroze Akhtar reiterated that the statements were his own, at which point the caller pointed out that he was handicapped, did not own a house and had been treated in a private hospital. Then, the caller asked, “If we help you a bit, would you be willing to add something in your FIR?”  

Mohammad Saleem, another violence survivor and Mehmood’s client said that the Police had asked him to falsely place on record that Pracha had forced them into giving statements that were not true. He said the police harassment had scared him so much that he was afraid of going back home.

At the conference, Mohammad Mumtaz said the Delhi police had told him that his FIR would not be registered with names of the assailants even though he could identify them. Mumtaz said the police told him, “You get a simple FIR registered if you want, or go home”. He had approached Pracha when he heard that he was fighting cases free of cost for poor people. Mumtaz’s uncle, Mehboob Alam Sahib was falsely implicated in a case and locked up in Mandoli jail where he was severely tortured. He shared the similar plight of being harassed and pressured to withdraw his case.

The Caravan also reported on the youngest client Wasim present at the conference whose video showing policemen beating five injured men and ordering them to sing the national anthem went viral. “Policemen keep telling us to take the cases back, you will be picked up, killed on the way somewhere,” Wasim said. “Policemen keep pressuring us. What happened yesterday, he is fighting for us, we stand with him. Policemen say this only, ‘The person you are going to … He will also be trapped, so will you and you will be shot down.”

Since the raid on December 24, several lawyers, activists have condemned the attack. On December 26, the Delhi High Court Women Lawyers Forum wrote a letter to the President of the Delhi High Court Bar Association, Mohit Mathur, stating that the lawyers associated with the forum discouraged the investigative agencies from arraigning lawyers as accused in criminal cases, merely for intimidating them.

According to LiveLaw, the letter claimed that lawyers are being targeted by these investigating agencies and even though, “on the face of it, the proceedings initiated against such lawyers are ostensibly independent of the matters being handled by them, but the pattern emerging from all such instances, where lawyers are being targeted, is hard to ignore.”

Today, on December 28, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) too, rose to the occasion and condemned the search and seizure conducted in Pracha’s office to lay hold of his computer for information, and also the brutal assault of a lawyer in Etah, Uttar Pradesh by the local police. It also called upon the Delhi Police to immediately forbear, cease and desist from using any information on the devices that have been seized.

The SCBA said that, “such a search/seizure is in the teeth of the specific provisions of law which recognise the client lawyer relationship and protects all correspondence between the advocate and his client. This encroachment on the rights of an advocate by the police violates the rights of the accused to a fair trial guaranteed under Article 21, and the protection against self-incrimination guaranteed under Article 20 (3) of the Constitution of India jeopardising the rights of the client to a free trial.”

Supreme Court Bar Association condemns the Delhi Police raid in the office of Advocate Mehmood Pracha and the police assault on advocate in Etah in UP.
“Seizure of confidential information protected by lawyer-client privilege prejudicially affects rights of accused” – SCBA pic.twitter.com/kL3w0WNpy0

— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) December 28, 2020

Advocate Pracha has moved two applications before the Delhi district court seeking a copy of the video footage of the search and seizure process, and for a registration of an FIR against police officials whom he accused of threatening him. Pracha stated in his application that the police ought to have returned to the court immediately upon the execution of the search warrant with the seized articles, but did not do so, which prompted him to file the application for the preservation of the video footage. The court directed the police to file a reply to his application for the video footage by December 27 and to file a status report in the concerned case by January 5, 2021.

On December 27, Metropolitan Magistrate Udbhav Kumar Jain of the Patiala House Court directed the entire video footage of the search carried out two days ago by the Delhi Police at the office of Advocate Mehmood Pracha to be preserved with the seal of the court.

@DelhiPolice will never let the entire video recordings come in Public domain. Today’s court order clearly establishes this. https://t.co/arCs7tblRR pic.twitter.com/YAAeSHhVjF

— Mehmood Pracha (@MehmoodPracha) December 27, 2020

Related:

Adv Mehmood Pracha’s Office raid: Court summons IO for video footage

The post Mehmood Pracha’s office raid a “pressure tactic” by Police: Delhi Riot victims appeared first on SabrangIndia.

This same video is viral on Facebook as can be seen in the video below. The identical text “Shivkumar home with just 1 Locker room opened” across most of the Facebook posts also indicates that this video is crazily viral on WhatsApp and is being uploaded by users to Facebook after they received this video as a WhatsApp forward with the aforementioned text. Even DurgaMenon states in tweet that she got the video via WhatsApp.

In reality, the video that is being passed around is that of an Income Tax raid on T&T law firm in Delhi founded by Rohit Tandon. In total, 13 crores worth of cash was found in raids on Rohit Tandon’s law firm and residences in Delhi in December 2016. The video that is now being shared as cash found in DK Shivkumar’s house was originally posted by a journalist Shiv Sunny on his Twitter timeline on December 10, 2016. He posted the video with the text, “Video of over Rs 8 cr cash (Rs 2 cr in new currency) seized by Delhi Police from T&T law firm in Delhi’s GK.“. The video can be seen below.

Recently, after a RSS Karyakarta Rajesh was murdered in Kerala, a fake video from Brazil claiming it to be Rajesh was circulated. Every newsworthy political issue is almost invariably followed by a fake video these days, and more often than not, these videos are circulated with a narrative that directly or indirectly benefits BJP as a party.

Courtesy: Altnews.in
 

The post FAKE: Video of IT raid on T&T law firm made viral as money found at Congress Minister DK Shivkumar’s home appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
नोटबंदी के ऐलान के चंद घंटों के बाद ही आश्रम रोड के अहमदाबाद डिस्ट्रिक्ट को-ऑपरेटिव बैंक में 500 करोड़ की बड़ी रकम जमा करने की खबर मिली। इस बैंक के डायरेक्टर बीजेपी के अध्यक्ष अमित शाह हैं। 19 दिसंबर को ईडी और इनकम टैक्स अफसरों ने इस बैंक में छह घंटे तक छापेमारी की कार्रवाई की। यह इस बैंक पर दूसरी कार्रवाई है।
 

कहा जा रहा है कि नोटबंदी के तीन दिन बाद ही यानी 8 से 12  दिसंबर, 2016  को एक को-ऑपरेटिव बैंक में 500 करोड़ रुपये जमा किए गए। बीजेपी के अध्यक्ष अमित शाह इस बैंक के निदेशकों में एक हैं। अब ईडी और आयकर विभाग के अधिकारी इस मामले की जांच कर रहे हैं। यह बैंक अहमदाबाद आश्रम रोड पर स्थित है। हालांकि इस छापेमारी के बारे में मीडिया में चुप्पी रही। या कहिये कि इस खबर को ब्लैक आउट कर दिया गया। मीडिया में तमिलनाडु के मुख्य सचिव पी रामा मोहन रेड्डी और जे शेखर रेड्डी के यहां छापेमारी की तो खूब चर्चा हुई लेकिन उस को-ऑपरेटिव बैंक में छापे को मीडिया में दबा दिया गया, जिसके निदेशक अमित शाह हैं।  

 
बुधवार यानी 21 दिसंबर को आयकर अधिकारियों ने चेन्नई के पॉश इलाके अन्नानगर में तमिलनाडु ‌ के मुख्य सचिव के घर से 30 लाख की नकदी और पांच किलो सोना बरामद करने का दावा किया। इसके अलावा उनके और सात अन्य ठिकानों पर छापे मारने का दावा किया गया। आयक विभाग के सूत्रों के मुताबिक मुख्य सचिव के बेटे विवेक राव और आंध्रप्रदेश के चित्तूर और चेन्नई में उनके कुछ  रिश्तेदारों के भी यहां छापे मारे गए। इससे पहले आयकर अधिकारियों ने तमिलनाडु के तीन बिजनेसमैन के यहां छापे मार कर 100 किलो सोना, 96 करोड़ रुपये मूल्य के 500 और 1000 रुपये के पुराने नोट और 34 करोड़ रुपये की नई करेंसी बरामद की। जिन व्यापारियों के यहां छापे मारे गए उनमें से एक जे शेखर रेड्डी भी था, जिसके तमिलनाडु के मुख्य सचिव के बेटे विवेक राव से कारोबारी संबंध बताए जा रहे हैं। जे शेखर रेड्डी को बुधवार को गिरफ्तार कर लिया गया था।
 
लेकिन इन छापों की तुलना में १९ दिसंबर को अहमदाबाद डिस्ट्रिक्ट को-ऑपरेटिव बैंक में पड़े ईडी और आयकर विभाग के छापे पर मिडिया में कमोबेश चुप्पी छाई रही। सिर्फ आउटलुक हिंदी ने इस खबर को छापी। इस सहकारी बैंक में जो 500  करोड़ रुपये जमा हुए थे, उसका ज्यादातर हिस्सा नोटबंदी के ऐलान की रात ही जमा किया गया था। इस बैंक की १९० शाखाएं हैं। लेकनि इतनी बड़ी रकम सिर्फ आश्रम रोड स्थित बैंक के मुख्यालय में ही जमा की गई। दरअसल 8 नवंबर की रात से बैंक में पैसा आना शुरू हो गया था। इस सहकारी बैंक के ज्यादातर ग्राहक और डिपोजिटर छोटे वेंडर और किसान हैं। आयकर विभाग अब इस बैंक से हासिल सीसीटीवी के विजुअल खंगाल रहा है। गुजरात के दूसरे सहकारी बैंकों में भी इसी तरह के अवैध नोट काफी बड़ी मात्रा में जमा किए गए हैं। सबरंगइंडिया ने अहमदाबाद  डिस्ट्रिक्ट को-ऑपरेटिव बैंक के मैनेजर से बात करने की कोशिश की लेकिन मैनेजर श्री बहेड़िया से बातचीत नहीं हो पाई। बिजली न होने की वजह से बैंक हमारे कॉल ट्रांसफर नहीं कर पाया।
 
इस मामले से जाहिर होता है कि बीजेपी से नजदीकी संबंध रखने वालों ने नोटबंदी के बाद बड़ी मात्रा में अपना पैसा इन सहकारी बैंकों में जमा किया है। गुजरात के १८ सहकारी बैंकों में से १७ का प्रबंधन और प्रशासन बीजेपी के हाथ में है।

गुजरात के एक सहकारी बैंक के पास 200 करोड़ रुपये का डिपोजिट आया। इस बैंक के चेयरमैन गुजरात के एक मंत्री शंकर भाई चौधरी हैं।
 
क्या नोटबंदी एक फरेब है। एक तरफ गुजरात के सहकारी बैंकों का इस्तेमाल बीजेपी के लिए अपने काले धन को ठिकाने लगाने में किया जा रहा है। दूसरी ओर, सरकार केरल और दूसरे राज्यों के सहकारी बैंकों को बरबाद करने में तुली है।

आरबीआई के निर्देश के मुताबिक आयकर विभाग और प्रवर्तन निदेशालय ने गुजरात के संदिग्ध सहकारी बैंकों की छानबीन शुरू कर दी है।
 
अहमदाबाद मिरर के मुताबिक प्रवर्तन निदेशालय ने सोमवार को आश्रम रोड स्थित एक सहकारी बैंक के आश्रम रोड स्थित ब्रांच में सात घंटे तक तलाशी ली और वहां से कुछ दस्तावेज बरामद किए। अहमदाबाद डिस्ट्रिक्ट को-ऑपरेटिव (एडीसी) बैंक की वेबसाइट में कहा गया है कि इसके निदेशकों में भाजपा के राष्ट्रीय अध्यक्ष अमित शाह भी शामिल हैं। प्रवर्तन निदेशालय के जोनल दफ्तर से जुड़े एक अधिकारी ने 19 तारीख की कार्रवाई की पुष्टि करते हुए बताया कि 500 और 1000 के नोटों को बदलने और उन्हें जमा लेने के रिकार्ड में गड़बड़ी के शक के बाद छानबीन करने का फैसला किया गया। मुख्यालय से आदेश मिलने के बाद छापेमारी की गई।

नोटबंदी के ऐलान के बाद अहमदाबाद डिस्ट्रिक्ट को-ऑपरेटिव बैंक में यह दूसरी छापेमारी थी। बैंक अधिकारियों ने सार्वजनिक तौर पर यह स्वीकार किया कि वे प्रवर्तन निदेशालय के कर्मचारियों से पूरा सहयोग कर रहे हैं। चेयरमैन अजय पटेल ने कहा – प्रवर्तन निदेशालय के कर्मचारी सोमवार को रूटीन चेकिंग के लिए आए थे। वे शाम छह बजे चले गए। हालांकि सूत्रों का कहना था कि बैंक में तलाशी अभियान सात घंटे तक चला। उन्होंने कई दस्तावेजों की जांच की और सीसीटीवी फुटेज खंगाले। गौरतलब है कि नोटबंदी के फैसले के ऐलान में मोदी सरकार ने जिला सहकारी बैंकों में 500 और 1000 नोटों को बदलने और जमा करने पर रोक लगा दी थी। इसके बावजूद गुजरात के सहकारी बैंक इन नोटों को जमा करने और बदलने में कैसे सफल रहे। जबकि देश की आम जनता को बैंकों की लंबी लाइनों में लगना पड़ रहा है।
 
अहमदाबाद के सहकारी बैंक पर पहली छापेमारी की खबर मीडिया में आई थी। पूर्व बीजेपी विधायक यतीन ओझा ने इसके बारे में लोगों को जानकारियां दी थी। वेब पोर्टल और पीएम को लिखी खुली चिट्ठी के जरिये इस मामले के बारे में लोगों को बताया गया था। 18 नवंबर को सबरंगइंडिया ने इस मामले की रिपोर्ट प्रकाशित की थी। सबरंगइंडिया की रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक – यतीन ओझा ने पीएम नरेंद्र मोदी पर देश को मूर्ख बनाने का आरोप लगाया था।

इसके पहले कोलकाता से निकलने वाले माकपा के मुखपत्र गणशक्ति में 8 नवंबर को यह रिपोर्ट छापी गई थी कि किस तरह बीजेपी के नेता पीएम मोदी के नोटबंदी के फैसले से पहले ही 500 और 1000 के नोटों को गैरकानूनी तौर पर बैंकों में जमा किया था। यह बताया गया था कि बीजेपी के एक खाते में किस तरह रहस्यमय तरीके से एक करोड़ रुपये जमा हो गए।

​​​​​​​असली सवाल है कि पश्चिम बंगाल में जो हुआ क्या वह दूसरे राज्यों में भी हुआ। और इससे भी बढ़ कर राष्ट्रीय स्वयंसेवक संघ और भाजपा के दूसरे सहयोगी संगठन का खातों का क्या हुआ।
नोटबंदी का फैसला लागू हुए 43 दिन हो चुके हैं। इस दौरान छोटे और बड़े डिपोजिटरों को बेहद मुश्किलों का सामना करना पड़ा है। मोदी सरकार की ओर से बगैर सोचे-समझे इस फैसले को लागू करने से आम लोगों की दिक्कतों को भारी मुश्किलों का सामना करना पड़ा है।
 
 
 
 

The post नोटबंदी के बाद अमित शाह से जुड़े सहकारी बैंक पर ईडी का छापा appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The raid was simultaneously conducted at 12 different locations in Bhopal on Tuesday, December 20, that includes his house in the Bairagarh township and the three hotels he owns in various parts of Bhopal.

Sushil Vaswani, the BJP leader has been raided by the Income Tax department in Bhopal for allegedly exchanging large amounts of old currency notes with new ones through the Mahanagar Nagrik Cooperative bank.

The raid was simultaneously conducted at 12 different locations in Bhopal on Tuesday that includes his house in the Bairagarh township and the three hotels he owns in various parts of Bhopal.

Earlier in November, BJP’s youth wing secretary from Salem, JVR Arun, was arrested by Tamil Nadu police with bundles of new currency notes worth Rs 20.55 lakh. BJP said that they had removed Arun from organisational responsibilities after his arrest. In another incident, former BJP leader Manish Sharma from West Bengal was also caught with Rs 33 Lakh in Rs 2,000 notes.

Photo Courtesy: Indian Express

Who is Sushil Waswani?

Says India Today,

1. He was once a bus conductor in the now defunct Madhya Pradesh Road Transport Corporation. But that was much before Vaswani made it big in MP BJP politics.
2. He now owns three hotels and several other posh properties in Bhopal.
3. The raid was simultaneously conducted at 12 different locations in Bhopal on Tuesday that includes his house in the Bairagarh township and the three hotels he owns in various parts of Bhopal.
4. Vaswani is also the founder director of the Mahanagar Nagrik Cooperative Bank that was inaugurated by a top BJP leader in 1992.
5. Apart from a senior BJP minister Uma Shankar Gupta, senior RSS leader Shashi Bhai Seth are also among the directors of this bank through which the disproportionate exchange of old and new currency notes has allegedly happened.
6. Vaswani also enjoyed a minister of state status in the BJP government when he was appointed the chairman of the MP Housing Corporation. He proudly displays his past status on the name plate of his house that was raided on Tuesday.
7. The December 20 income tax raid started at around 6.30 am with 64 officers simultaneously searching 12 locations in different parts of the city.
8. According to a top source in the IT department a lot of incriminating evidence pointing towards large scale exchange of currency notes post demonetisation have been recovered during the raids.

The post I-T Sleuths Raid BJP leader Sushil Waswani for allegedly Laundering Huge Sums of Black Money appeared first on SabrangIndia.