IPL probe: Kings XI Punjab under I-T scanner

Zeecric Bureau

New Delhi: The Indian Premier League controversy continued on Thursday with the Income Tax authorities questioning the sources of funds of the Kings XI Punjab team. Sources in the IT department said that some of the funds in the Punjab based franchisee may have come from London via Mauritius. It was also revealed that two of the owners of the Punjab based franchisee may be questioned by sleuths from the Income Tax department.When contacted, Ness Wadia, co-owner of the Punjab team, rubbished all the charges. “We have nothing to hide,” he said. “I do not wish to get sucked into speculations in the media. We are co-operating with agencies,” he added. Earlier on Wednesday, sleuths of the Income Tax Department quizzed officials of KPH Dreams Pvt Ltd, owning Indian Premier League team Kings XI Punjab, and scrutinised the accounts pertaining to three editions of the IPL featuring the Mohali franchise. This went on for five hours at the premises of the investigation wing of the IT Department (North-West Region) at Panchkula in Haryana. The KXI Punjab officials, during their questioning, submitted some documents sought by the IT sleuths, sources said.The quizzing was part of the inquiry initiated by the department in the wake of the league coming under scanner of various tax agencies. The IT Department had carried out the inspection of the books of accounts while visiting the Guest House of the company in Mohali in Punjab on April 23.