Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: BJP leader Sudhanshu Mittal on Wednesday dismissed charges being levelled against him in connection with the alleged corruption in the Commonwealth Games works.
Speaking to media, Mittal said a malicious campaign was being run against me, adding he was being made a political scapegoat.
Mittal’s defence came a day after taxmen came knocking on his doors, conducting searches at his residence and also at his nephew Vinay Mittal’s properties.
The searches and surveys were among the many conducted yesterday by the Income-Tax Department in 30 premises in the National Capital Region, Ludhiana and Chandigarh, with the intent of “unearthing the evidences relating to alleged financial irregularities in the Commonwealth Games 2010”.
During the “raids” taxmen visited the premises of PICO International and Deepali Designs Consortium, GL Litmus and Meroform Consortium, Comfort Net and Nussli India Consortium and ESG Arena and D-Art Furniture, primarily to probe the supply of sports equipment for the just-concluded mega sports event.
Reports said Deepali Designs Consortium, which supplies sports equipment, was awarded a contract of Rs 230 crores for work overlays in February after Mittal was appointed a director in the company.
The BJP leader however denied he was involved in any manner in Deepali Designs. Neither me nor any of my family member has anything to do with Deepali Designs, he claimed.
Mittal said the only way he was related to the Commonwealth Games was through Delhi Tents and Decorators, a company in which he is a partner and which got only Rs 29 lakhs worth of CWG contracts.
Mittal also denied being part of a real estate firm which was also surveyed. The I-T Department had also conducted surveys at the premises of real estate firm IREO in Gurgaon in connection with the alleged routing of funds through tax havens.
Mittal however claimed he does not have a single share and also no commercial interest in the real estate firm.
“The owners of two firms are only distantly related to me,” he said.
The BJP leader also stated he was open to any kind of probe.
