Income Tax officials find crocodiles amid raid at ex-BJP MLA’s Madhya Pradesh house
Forest officials rescued 2 marsh crocodiles from a pond at former BJP MLA Harvansh Singh Rathore's residence in Sagar district, amid income-tax searches uncovering alleged tax evasion and assets worth over Rs 200 crore.
FollowBhopal: Forest officials in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar district made a rather startling discovery on Friday, and rescued two out of four marsh crocodiles from a small pond within the residential premises of former BJP MLA Harvansh Singh Rathore. The remaining two crocodiles are set to be rescued on Saturday.
The rescue operation was undertaken amid income-tax searches at Rathore's premises, which were part of a broader investigation into alleged tax evasion amounting to Rs 150 crore. The searches, conducted by the I-T department, also uncovered an alleged tax evasion racket involving bidi and construction businessman Rajesh Kesharwani.
According to Head of Forest (HoF) Aseem Srivastava, the crocodiles were seized after being informed by the I-T department. The forest department will register a case under the Wildlife Protection Act after conducting an investigation. The rescued crocodiles will undergo medical examination and be released into a dam with court permission.
Interestingly, Rathore's family has disowned the pond, claiming they had donated it to temple priests long ago. However, sources in the forest department confirmed that the family had written to the department in 2014, requesting the removal of the crocodiles.
The I-T department's searches have revealed assets worth over Rs 200 crore, including 14 kg of gold and Rs 3.8 crore in cash. The investigation is ongoing, with the operation at Kesharwani's properties still in progress.
Rathore, a former MLA from Banda in Sagar district, was hoping to become the BJP district president. Harnam Singh Rathore, his father, was a minister in the Uma Bharti government.
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