Nov 29 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

IN THE DOCK - After I-T raids, tainted babu relieved of all positions

TNN





Incometax raids on the chief engineer of Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway have yielded Rs 12 crore in cash in an SUV , 2 kg of diamond-studded gold jewellery worth crores and Rs 12 lakh in cash at the engineer's sprawling bungalow in Noi da's Sector 51. The IT de partment car ried out the raids on Yadav Singh  and a clutch of companies linked to him and his wife over Thursday and Friday . Singh, believed to be close to former UP CM Mayawati, had been named in a Rs 954-crore scam over handing out of contracts and had been suspended in 2012, but in a strange twist was appointed the chief engineer of all three authorities just 15 days back. During Mayawati's tenure, Singh was responsible for all infrastructure projects in Noida. Income tax department director-general (investiga tion) Krishna Saini said the main reason for the raids was to uncover alleged kickbacks during allocating construction contracts.
On Friday , Singh was stripped of the charges as chief engineer of Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway Development Authority and attached to the personnel department of Noida.
Officials said the raids, which began on Thursday , continued till Friday. Around 6am on Friday , sleuths raided the Sector 15-A residence of Rajendra Manocha, a director of McConn Infra Pvt Ltd. Singh's wife, Kusum Lata, is a former di rector of the company . IT officials found a key sealed in a sofa in the house. The key turned out to be that of an SUV parked outside the house. And that SUV had Rs 12 crore in cash stashed in packets and placed under the seats of the vehicle.
I-T officials also raided the house of Singh and his wife, who is now a director of a company , Meenu Creations, dealing in designer clothes. Here, officials recovered Rs 12 lakh and 2 kg diamond-studded gold jewellery .Saini said that they were evaluating the cost of the jewellery , but expected it to run into crores. The officials then raided the premises of Kusum Lata's business partner, Anil Peshawri, and recovered over Rs 40 lakh in cash and unaccounted stocks worth over Rs 12.5 crore. The I-T department said it was probing the allegations against the companies, including charges of indulging in property dealing, by holding bogus shares in more than 30 companies in Kolkata.
Saini said around 13 lockers in 13 different banks have been sealed. “Investigations are being carried out. We have sought some documents from the Noida Authority too,“ he said.
Sources in Noida Authority said Singh was stripped off all charges on the basis of reports of recovery of cash. “ Any further action would be taken against him on the basis of the report from I-T department,“ an official said.