Benami properties case: Income Tax dept questions Lalu Yadav's son-in-law Shailesh Kumar for 9 hrs

Patna: The Income Tax department on Thursday quizzed Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's son-in-law Shailesh Kumar for nine hours as part of an enquiry in connection with charges on ownership of Benami properties.

Kumar was questioned about his Bijwasan Farm house property which is registered on the company name ' Mishail packers and Printers Ltd.,' in which both husband wife (Misa Bharti) are the directors of the company. 

I-T officials later added that the real beneficiaries are Misa Bharti and Shailesh Kumar.

In records, the book value of the farm house is Rs. 1.4 crore, but the market value of this farm house is more than Rs. 40 crore.

Yesterday, Bharti made an appearance before the I-T department in connection with the same case. She was interrogated for around 4-5 hours.

The I-T department had attached a total of 12 plots of Misa Bharti and her husband Shailesh Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav and ex chief minister Rabri Devi, and sisters Ragini and Chanda Yadav.

One farmhouse in Delhi and one bungalow in New Friends Colony were also attached.

The market value of the total attached property is worth Rs. 175 crore, whereas the book value of the attached property is Rs. 9.32 crore.

The I-T department had earlier seized Benami properties of Misa Bharti, Shailesh Kumar and Tejaswi Yadav.

Two summons to Misa were also issued, but after she failed to appear, the I-T department proceeded to seize the properties which were raided in May.

On June 13, the I-T Department summoned Shailesh Kumar, in connection with the Benami assets and tax evasion case registered against him.

On June 7, the I-T department slapped a fine of Rs. 10,000 against Shailesh on account of not appearing for interrogation.

(With ANI inputs)