Income tax officials raid ex-BJP MLA, find crocodiles in his house

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Not just successful, a raid at the house of a former legislator in Madhya Pradesh has turned out to be rather amusing for the income tax officers. Besides gold, crores of cash, and benami imported cars, they have found three crocodiles in a pond at former BJP MLA Harvansh Singh Rathore's house.


The Income Tax department has been raiding the houses of Mr Rathore and former councillor Rajesh Kesharwani in Sagar since Sunday on allegations of evasion of crores in tax.


The raids have revealed tax evasion of Rs 155 crore, said officials. They have seized Rs 3 crore in cash besides gold and silver jewellery, whose value would go up in crores.


Mr Kesharwani, who ran a beedi business along with Mr Rathore, alone evaded tax worth Rs 140 crore and related documents have been found during the raid, said sources. He was also into construction business.


The surprise, however, waited at Mr Rathore's. As many as three crocodiles were found in a small pond at his house, after which the forest department was alerted.


At Mr Kesharwani's house, the officers also found several benami imported cars, not registered under any member of the Kesharwani family. The Income Tax department has sought information regarding the cars from the Transport department and is probing how they acquired these cars.


Mr Rathore, a businessman in Sagar district and a veteran BJP leader, was elected as an MLA in the 2013 assembly polls and was also a strong contender for the post of district chief. His father, Harnam Singh Rathore, was a minister in the Madhya Pradesh government.