IT dept attaches benami properties of Odisha man in ₹200-cr mineral theft case

Bhubaneswar: The income tax department has attached 10 high value apartments in Bhubaneswar and 11.2 acres of land in Cuttack district of a Delhi-based man from Odisha who had allegedly acquired it through benami holdings funded by illegal mining of minor minerals.

Income tax officials said they have attached 10 high value apartments in Kalinganagar area of Bhubaneswar and 11.2 acres of land at Athagarh in Cuttack district belonging to one Tapas Ranjan Panda. After detailed enquiry, the benami properties were provisionally attached by the Benami Prohibition Unit of IT department in Bhubaneswar, officials said.

The properties were initially acquired in the names of two benami entities - Truism Infratech Pvt Ltd and True Aid Foundation which were managed and controlled by Panda through his relatives and employees.

“The inquiry found that Panda did illegal and unauthorised stone mining at Dankari hill at Chadheidhara under Dharmashala tahsil of Jajpur district. The state government did not allot any mining license for stone quarry for the same from 2014 onwards. However, during the course of a search conducted by IT department in June 2022, it was found that ₹200 crores of stone and stone aggregates were sold by Panda to several people,” said a senior IT official.

“It has now been established that the sale consideration was channelised to his benami companies/firms and from the same unaccounted money land at Bhadrak, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and houses in various apartments located at Bhubaneswar, Gurugram and Ghaziabad. The same benami properties were later re-transferred to his and his wife’s name through layering of transactions,” the official added.

Panda also used to file false income tax and GST return through bogus billing to legitimise the property acquired in the name of benamidars.

IT officials said the assets confiscated under Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016 can be provisionally attached for 90 days, followed by adjudication at the nearest adjudication authority. If proven benami, it vests with the government. The Act aimed to tackle black money and tax evasion, particularly in real estate, has penalty provisions ranging from rigorous imprisonment of 1 to 7 years and a fine up to 25% of the property’s fair market value.

The Act seeks to curb “benami” transactions—financial arrangements where property is held by one person, but the consideration (payment) is provided by another, typically to conceal the real owner’s identity. Once the Adjudicating Authority decides the case within a year, a person can approach the Appellate Tribunal and then the High Court.

As Odisha has emerged as the largest source of minor minerals in India with over 2000 sources for granite, sand, ballast, morrum and laterite, the theft has also gone up forcing the state government to conduct raids.

Last month, 360 people were arrested and 524 vehicles seized during a statewide crackdown on illegal extraction and transportation of minor minerals in a span of four days. The state police, which in coordination with the state mines department conducted raids at various places, lodged 456 cases against the sand and stone mafia across the state.