I-T dept urged to probe ‘tax evasion’ by Pathak

Bhubaneswar: The Special Vigilance Court here Wednesday allowed the police to take suspended IFS officer Abhay Kant Pathak and his son Akash, who have been arrested on charges of amassing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income, on a three-day remand for further investigations into the case, sources said.

Meanwhile, suspecting tax evasion in view of a staggering Rs 9.48 crore cash deposits and deposits by transfers to the tune of `5.29 crore – totalling upto Rs 14.77 crore – in three bank accounts belonging to the Pathak senior without any income tax returns, the state Vigilance has referred the matter to the Income Tax (I-T) department for investigation.

“The Income Tax department has been urged to investigate the matter in accordance with the Income Tax Act, 1961 and Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988,” read a statement issued by the state Vigilance.
Suspecting money laundering activities by the father-son duo, the anti-corruption wing of the state police has also roped in the Enforcement Directorate to probe the issue under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, said the statement.

Meanwhile, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Bhubaneswar Vigilance Cell quizzed the officials of three banks where the ‘ill-gotten’ money has been deposited.

Notably, Travel agency ‘Sky King’ has filed an FIR with Kharavela Nagar police against Abhay and Akash. In the complaint, the agency said that the father-son duo owes them over `65 lakh. The money had been spent on chartered flights and reservations in luxurious hotels.

Speaking to mediapersons Wednesday, the travel agency’s managing partner Prabhas Choudhury said that Akash had booked 10 chartered flights and booked hotels through them on a number of occasions. The total cost for flights and hotel bookings was approximately `2.78 crore of which the company has received `2.13 crore. Choudhury also said that the agency had booked rooms in five-star hotels in this city, Mumbai and Delhi for Akash. “Whenever we approached them to clear the dues, they threatened us with dire consequences,” Choudhury said.