I-T Dept Attaches Rs 1,600 Cr ‘Benami’ Assets of Sasikala

The Income Tax Department has attached ‘benami’ assets worth Rs 1,600 crore belonging to VK Sasikala, an aide to former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, officials said on Tuesday.

It is considered to be a  major move as the Income Tax department in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday attached properties worth around Rs 1,600 crore of former Chief Minister Jayalalitha's close aide VK Sasikala under provisions of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, according to sources. The agency found that properties worth Rs 1,600 crore were procured using in demonetized notes under fictitious names

Nine properties, located in Chennai, Puducherry and Coimbatore, were procured soon after demonetization in November 2016 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that the two high-value notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 are not legal tenders, they said.