I-T Dept seizes paintings worth Rs 30 cr in benami asset case against Bishnoi

The Income Tax Department has seized paintings worth Rs 30 crore in connection with benami assets case against Haryana Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi, who is the son of late former chief minister Bhajan Lal, sources said on Monday.

The source of investment in the paintings valued at about Rs 30 crore could not be satisfactorily explained and hence the same were seized, they said.

In July, the Delhi unit investigation wing of the I-T Department had put the said painting under restraint following the searches conducted against Bishnoi and his family.

Apart from the paintings, sources said probe against the Congress MLA from Adampur constituency of Haryana has led to the seizure of assets worth more than Rs 32 crore, detection of undisclosed foreign assets of more than Rs 200 crore and domestic tax evasion of over Rs 62 crore.The investigation also revealed that Bishnoi owned Bristol Hotel in Haryana's Gurugram in the name of Bright Star Hotel Private Limited, in which 34 per cent shares of Bright Star are held in the name of a front company registered in the British Virgin Islands and operated inter alia from the UAE.

As such holding was found benami, the hotel was provisionally attached under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988, the sources said. Further investigation is underway.

( With inputs from ANI )