The searches began early morning at different locations in Jaipur, including Yadav’s family-owned packaging factory in Kotputli which is also his constituency, under tight cover provided by central paramilitary forces. I-T officials did not reveal if they came across any tax evasion during their operations. Sources, however, said the documents were still being examined.
When the minister was asked whether the searches were chiefly related to the alleged irregularities in the mid-day meal scheme, the minister said if someone was doing it, he was neither aware nor had anything to do with it.
“We have a packaging business. We mainly manufacture sacks for grains and fertilisers,” Yadav said.
Sources said that I-T officials also conducted searches at Yadav’s business establishment in Uttarakhand. In Jaipur alone, teams visited over two dozen properties. One team also searched an apartment in Bani Park. They also conducted searches in offices and residences of other firms in the city.
“I received information at 8am that I-T officials had come to business establishments managed by my family. I advised them that if they (IT officials) have come to search, let them do it. We are ready to provide replies to their queries,” Yadav said.
Yadav links searches to political grudge
Yadav also linked the searches to political grudge and said he performed his politics with truth and honesty.
“Our business establishments are very old. My father was in the business from the 1950s. I was also involved in the business before venturing into politics. And now my sons are running that business,” he said, adding that his ancestral business has a clean record of 70 years.
“If they have information about some wrongdoing, we are ready to answer,” Yadav said.
He said that his family companies filed tax returns regularly and provided information about GST and turnovers.
He said that the business was being run professionally with over 700 employees working in the Kotputli factory and about 1,000 workers in Uttarakhand.
When asked if he was directly involved in the business, Yadav said, “My two sons, brother and other relatives run the business after I joined politics.”
The I-T department’s searches continued even after noon.
Sources said that the teams had also gone to other cities in Rajasthan and other states.