IT raids hospital of Yogendra Yadav's sister for alleged payment to Nirav Modi's firm

Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav's family members were raided by the Income Tax Department on Wednesday. The IT sleuths recovered about Rs 22 lakh cash during raids on multiple premises of a hospital group in Haryana's Rewari where Yadav's nephew Dr Gautam Yadav is the main partner.

The raids were conducted after the hospital group allegedly made cash payments to a Nirav Modi firm for purchasing jewellery.

They said the tax department searched the Kalawati Hospital and Kamla Nursing Home and the residences of Dr Gautam and others.

"A total of three premises are being searched by the ITD sleuths from the investigation wing of Haryana. A team of about 40 tax officials and a contingent of police personnel executed the action," a senior IT official said.

Dr Gautam is the son of Yadav's sister Dr Neelam Yadav.

Officials said the tax department carried out the raids acting on inputs received from a dossier of information from the Nirav Modi group.

Modi is absconding from probe in the $ 2 billion PNB fraud case and it was found that Dr Gautam paid Rs 3.25 lakh cash out of the total Rs 6.50 lakh, in cash for purchase of jewellery from the diamantaire's firm.

They added that the searches also covered Dr Narender Singh Yadav and Rs 22 lakh cash was recovered from the residence of the Yadavs.

"The current cash limit in the hand of a person is Rs 2 lakh and the source of this cash amount of Rs 22 lakh is being probed," an IT official said.

When asked about the ITD’s allegations, Yadav told PTI, "The question is whether this money is unaccounted for? I do not know about the accounts of the hospitals.”

The department also trashed Yadav's allegations that the raiding teams of the department sealed the hospital and the ICU as a few "caesarian section deliveries" also took place during the time of the searches, which is part of the panchnama.

They added that all the CCTVs of the searched premises, including the hospitals, were kept operational and they have recorded all the search proceedings that began at 11 AM.

Yadav alleged that the raids were carried out with an intent to "intimidate" and "silence" him as he had launched an agitation for fair crop price for farmers and against liquor shops in that city in Haryana.

Yadav, who started his campaign with a nine-day padyatra (march) that ended two days ago, said the place and the timing of the "raid" was to send a message not just to him but also to the many farmers who are fighting for their rights.

Earlier in the day, he took to Twitter to also allege that the Narendra Modi government at the Centre was "targetting" his family through the raids.

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