New Delhi/Noida/Chandigarh, February 1
‘Ponty’ Gurdeep Singh Chadha’s mobile phone remained switched off throughout Wednesday even as the Income Tax department carried out searches of the premises owned by him across Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. Unidentified IT sources let the media know later in the evening that Rs 100 crore worth of cash and jewellery had been seized.

The ‘timing’ of the operation triggered speculation that the businessman with interests in liquor, real estate, malls and multiplexes, could be paying the price for his proximity to UP Chief Minister Mayawati. IT sources, however, claimed that the operation was being planned for the past four months after specific intelligence was received about tax-evasion and arbitrary pricing on liquor bottles.

The one-armed ‘Ponty’ Chadha ( he was born with only the left arm) presides over an extensive business empire that is spread across North India. Owner of the ‘Waves’ group of malls, he is also said to have several distilleries, paper mills, bottling plants besides a virtual monopoly over liquor distribution in several states, including UP. The ‘Waves’ website puts his total turnover at Rs 2,500 crore, which could well be a gross under-statement, say informed sources. The ‘Waves’ mall in NOIDA is claimed to be one of the largest in Asia and is spread over three and a half lakh square feet.

Chadha’s family belongs to Moradabad in UP ( the family also maintains a house in Ludhiana) although he also has extensive business interests in Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttarakhand. His company is also engaged in constructing the Fairlakes residential complex in Mohali besides promoting housing complexes in Greater NOIDA, Jaipur, Ghaziabad and several other cities.

At Noida, besides the Centre Stage Mall, he is constructing three other commercial complexes in 18. Last year he bagged the city centre project in sectors 32 and 25A. It was the biggest land deal for a total value of Rs.6570 crores. He had paid Rs.375 crores in stamp duty alone for registration of the property. This was the highest revenue from a single land deal ever in NOIDA.