M A I N   N E W S

50 bank accounts of Maya, kin detected
Several lakh withdrawn in past 3 months
S. Satyanarayanan
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 9
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has detected over 50 bank accounts allegedly belonging to former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati and her close relatives, from which withdrawals and transfers worth several lakhs of rupees have been made in the past three months.

The agency has also come across four houses in the Inderpuri area of West Delhi, suspected to be owned by Ms Mayawati or her close relatives. CBI officials are now trying to verify the ownership with the housing authorities, sources said.

Out of the 50 bank accounts, maximum transactions/withdrawals have taken place in about a dozen accounts held by Naresh Kumar, a brother of Mayawati, agency sources told ‘The Tribune’ late tonight.

These accounts were detected by the sleuths belonging to the Anti-Corruption Unit of the CBI during the day-long simultaneous raids conducted yesterday at the residences of the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister in Delhi, Lucknow, Bulandsahar, Khurja and NOIDA.

According to sources, it is a pain-staking job and could take several days. The CBI has in its regular case has already listed two bank accounts of Mayawati in two public sector banks in Delhi consisting a total deposit of Rs 2,51,40,072.12.

The FIR, registered on Sunday, has also accused Mayawati of holding huge assets to the tune of Rs 1,38,71,613.12 disproportionate to her known income.

It says that Mayawati had earned a total income of Rs 1,12,68,459 between April 1, 1995 and August 29, 2003 from all known sources of income and that in her income tax returns, she has declared a total income of Rs 88,07,493 for the period from the financial year 1997-98 (assessment year 1998-99) to financial year 2002-03 (assessment year 2003-04), including agricultural income and income from other sources like house rent, etc.

Her income of Rs 8,57,429 for the financial year 1997-98 has been taken as the base for calculating her income for the previous years 1995-96 and 1996-97, the FIR says, adding that for the assessment of her income during the period April 1, 2003 to August 30, 2003, her income has been calculated as Rs 7,46,108 taking a monthly average of her income during 2002-03.

“In considering the above income, even if her expenditure is considered as nil/negligible, she is in possession of huge disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 1,38,71,613.12,” the FIR says.