Patna/New Delhi: A day after the Income Tax Department attached 12 plots of Lalu Prasad's kin as part of its probe in the over Rs 1,000 crore benami land deals, daughter of the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief, Misa Bharti, on Wednesday decided to join the investigation.
Misa reached the Income Tax office in New Delhi earlier today and is currently being questioned.
On Tuesday, the Income Tax Department charged six family members of Lalu Prasad, including wife, son and daughters, under the new and stringent Benami Transactions Act, that came into force on November 01, 2016.
The department also served notices of attachment of assets to Lalu's MP daughter Misa Bharti, son-in-law Shailesh Kumar, his wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, son and Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav and daughters Chanda and Ragini Yadav.
Sources said that two assets in Delhi and several other properties in Bihar have been attached after the department issued a provisional order under the Benami Transactions Act.
Earlier this month, Misa Bharti and her husband had skipped the IT department summons twice.
The action came in the wake of the May 16 searches at 22 places in and around Delhi in connection with alleged benami (proxy) property deals involving Rashtriya Janata Dal chief and his children -- Tejashwi Yadav, Health Minister Tej Pratap Yadav and Misa Bharti.
Besides Lalu Prasad's residence, IT department officials also carried out searches at the residence of party MP PC Gupta as well as several businessmen and real estate agents in Delhi and Haryana's Gurugram and Rewari, in the wake of allegations by senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushil Kumar Modi, who alleged their involvement in corrupt land deals.
On May 22, the Enforcement Directorate has arrested a chartered accountant, Rajesh Kumar Agrawal, allegedly linked to Bharti and others, from Delhi.
(With Agency inputs)
