I-T sleuths seal bank account opened under Jan Dhan Yojana after recovering unaccounted Rs 40 lakh
Income Tax officials today sealed a bank account under Jan Dhan Yojana in Arrah of Bihar after finding unaccounted cash amounting to Rs 40 lakh.
In Short
- Bank accounted opened under Jan Dhan Yojana sealed.
- I-T sleuths sealed account after finding Rs 40 lakh.
- The officials are probing source of the cash deposited.
In a first, a bank account which was opened under PM Narendra Modi's ambitious Jan Dhan Yojana scheme was on Friday sealed by the Income Tax Department officials after they found Rs 40 lakh unaccounted money deposited in the account in Arrah in Bihar.
The Jan-Dhan account opened at Arrah's Dena Bank is in the name of a local women Sitara Devi. The huge deposit was made in Sitara Devi's account after the demonetisation was announced on November 8.
The Income Tax officials, who have been monitoring several Jan Dhan accounts following reports of black money holders their cash in these accounts to evade scrutiny, found out that huge transactions have taken place in the account of Sitara Devi after demonitisation.
Also read: Exposed: How spiritual leaders are laundering hawala, secretive money during demonetisation
CASH DEPOSITED IN INSTALMENTS
According to sources, the entire amount was not deposited in the account in one go but small amounts were deposited at different times. However, when the I-T officials questioned Sitara Devi about the source of the income she failed to provide a justification. She claimed that the money belonged to her family who operated a dairy business. The officials have sealed the account and have begun the investigations.
"My family is big and consists of 50 to 60 members and the money belongs to all of them. The money in my Jan Dhan bank account belongs to my family," claimed Sitara Devi in her defence.
Also read: PM Modi at Moradabad: After demonetisation rich touching feet of poor for Jan Dhan accounts
IT officials are presently trying to ascertain the source of the income. Officials are also trying to ascertain whether the amount belonged to the family members of Sitara Devi or to some person who had hoarded black money and deposited it in Sitara Devi's account to escape scrutiny.
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