The Centre has made provisional attachments in more than 1,000 cases of properties under the Benami Act, involving more than Rs 3,800 crore.
The attachments under the Benami Property Transactions Act, which came into force on 1 November 2016, include plots of land, flats, shops, jewellery, vehicle, deposits in bank accounts, fixed deposits etc.
The attached properties include immovable properties worth Rs 2,900 crore, as per figures of the Ministry of Finance, till January this year.
The Income Tax Department, under the Ministry of Finance, has set up 24 dedicated Benami Prohibition Units (BPUs) under its Investigation Directorates all over the country to ensure swift action in cases related to benami properties. In five cases, the provisional attachments of Benami properties, worth more than Rs 150 crore were confirmed by the authorities. In one such case, it was established that a real estate company had acquired about 50 acres of land, valued at more than Rs 110 crore, using the names of persons of no means as benamidars.
In another case, cash of Rs 1.11 crore was intercepted from a vehicle with a person who denied the ownership of this cash. Subsequently, no one claimed ownership of this cash and it was held to be benami property by the officials.