I-T raids continue at Rana’s place for 3rd day

The Income Tax Department continued raids at the premises of Kapurthala MLA, former minister and sugar baron Rana Gurjeet Singh for the third day on Saturday.

The investigation wing of the department from Ludhiana has been supervising the raids. Sources said unaccounted cash to the tune of over Rs 1 crore and some jewellery had been seized.

Officials said the process of consolidation of raid would start tonight and the teams would leave around 35 premises being checked in Kapurthala, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. The raid at the remaining places would conclude by tomorrow, they said.

Rana is four-time MLA from Kapurthala. He hails from Bajpur in Uttarakhand. He has also served as Jalandhar MP. His son Rana Inder Partap Singh is an Independent MLA from Sultanpur Lodhi. In August last year, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had imposed a penalty of Rs 63 crore on his company Rana Sugar Limited for alleged fund diversion and other activities.

On Thursday evening, Congress leaders, including LoP Partap Bajwa, MLAs Pargat Singh, Hardev S Laddi Sherowalia, Sukhwinder Kotli, ex-MLAs Kuljit Nagra and Tirlochan Soondh, had gone to his house and tried to contact the Ranas.

“We were conveyed that they were doing well. We could not talk to them directly. We have decided to let the central agency do its job. After they leave and we are in a position to talk to the Ranas, we shall decide the next course of action,” said the leaders.