I-T dept hits dead end in Vadra-Bhandari probe; Nirmala Seetharaman asks why Congress top brass is silent

The Income Tax (I-T) Department has reportedly hit a dead-end in arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari' case. Bhandari has been under IT department's scanner for purchasing International business-class air tickets for Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra earlier in 2012.

When I-T sleuths approached the travel agency from which Vadra's tickets were booked, the agency reportedly said that they had received the payment in cash and they cannot 'recollect' from whom did they receive

"If the payments for the flights had been made by cheque, we could have traced the person who made the payments. But since the payments were made in cash, there is nothing to dig deeper. And an amount of between Rs 8-10 lakh is too small an amount for us to call Robert Vadra over for questioning," an I-T official was quoted by The Indian Express.

However, the I-T officials said that their search led to Bhandari as there is a property owned by Robert Vadra in London.

After looking into the emails of the two, Bhandari and Vadra, the I-T department traced that the former renovated the property for Vadra in London in August 2012.

The I-T officials said: "We questioned Bhandari soon after he was raided, he was extremely evasive about any queries raised with him. And this had included questions put to him on air tickets being booked for Vadra and who had made the payments. 'I do not recall' is what Bhandari had repeatedly said on the subject."

"It is to be recalled that Sanjay Bhandari has been on the "absconding" list for the past few months and, in his absence, his properties to the tune of Rs 20 crore have been attached by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) earlier this year," I-T officials said.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has posed questions to Congress over the dubious affairs between Vadra and Bhandari and said - "Why the senior leadership of the Congress party, including the president and vice-president, are keeping a studied silence over the matter."

"Is Congress leadership, by being silent, implying they knew of it? Tickets were booked from Nice in France to Zurich, Switzerland. His (Robert Vadra's) house in London was also refurbished," Sitharaman said during media briefing at BJP headquarters in New Delhi on Tuesday.

 Bhandari renovated Vadra's property in London

On interrogating, Bhandari had earlier admitted to the fact that he was involved in the renovation of Vadra's London property. It was reported earlier in June 2016 that Bhandari, Vadra and Vadra's assistant, Manoj Arora had exchanged messages.

What caught the I-T officials' attention was that the estimated amount for renovation which was 28,000 pounds, went up to 35,000 pounds. Later, to trace more strong evidence, they sent over seven requests to different countries in a lookout for property deals involving Bhandari.

 Sanjay Bhandari under I-T scanner

The former raids by I-T department have revealed Sanjay Bhandari's extensive involvement in several international properties and bank transactions. The officials also revealed a vital angle of mass payments being received to Bhandari's bank accounts in Dubai by Swiss major aircraft Pilatus.

A top I-T official in this regard said, "Our investigations have so far revealed that while the payments came in from Pilatus, they were quickly routed out to several offshore companies within a day or two."

"This is the stage at which we are now and we are waiting for details from several offshore jurisdictions where the payments were moved. It was all done in a very clever and layered manner and the case has become a challenge," the official added.