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Another Madhya Pradesh Minister resigns

BHOPAL: Following a raid by Income Tax officials at his brother’s residence, the Madhya Pradesh Minister for Public Health, Family Welfare and Bhopal Gas Tragedy, Ajay Vishnoi, tendered his resignation to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan on Monday stating that all allegations and insinuations against him were without any basis and he should be relieved from the Cabinet till vindicated.

Mr. Vishnoi said it was not just allegations by the Congress party leaders but even the Income Tax raid on his brother’s house that had led to his decision to resign as he did not want the controversy to malign his party’s image.

Briefing media persons on the income tax raids, Director-General (Investigation) S. S. Rana said many persons were covered under last Friday’s search and seizure operations in Bhopal which were directly linked to a similar operation conducted last September. In those raids, huge amounts of money and assets were seized from the then Director (Health) Yogiraj Sharma and his associates.

Director (Investigation) A. K. Singh, who also addressed the press conference, said the total seizure during the earlier raids on the premises of Yogiraj Sharma and his associates amounted to over Rs.100 crore.

Mr. Rana said that on the basis of the evidence collected during the previous search and seizure operations and additional information it was clear that all the purchases by the Health Department were made through the Madhya Pradesh Laghu Udyog Nigam. They had now conducted “search and survey” at 56 places and the total amount surrendered by those covered under this operation, which began on Friday morning, was Rs.85,48,015 in cash. The value of jewellery surrendered had been assessed at Rs.28,09,673 on the basis of preliminary data.

The lockers that have been sealed -- five in Jabalpur, 10 in Indore and 12 in Bhopal -- are yet to be opened. The other documents, especially account books and those relating to investments would go through the investigation process that would take two to three months to complete, he said. He added that the Income Tax department had not finalised its report or come to any conclusion about the raids on the former Director (Health) and his associates in September 2007 as the investigations were still on. “The latest seizures are part of the same investigation,” he said.

The journalists were told that the income tax seizures pointed to investments made in the name of relatives. Most of the investments were in properties in and around Bhopal and Indore. Some documents have also been recovered from Jabalpur purportedly showing payments to government officials running into crores. A diary purportedly giving similar details has also been seized from Bhopal.

The Director (Investigation) said that Rs.1.80 lakh in cash was found during the search and seizure operation at the residence of Mr. Abay Vishnoi in Jabalpur. Of this amount, Rs.1.70 lakh has been seized.

In the case of State Home Secretary Rajesh Rajora (who tendered his resignation after Friday’s raid), the Director (Investigation) said preliminary findings revealed that properties had been purchased by his in-laws and a new company was opened. “We are probing the source of money for all this,” he added.

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Another Madhya Pradesh Minister resigns

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