Former Uttar Pradesh minister Gayatri Prajapati on I-T radar after 18 more ‘benami’ properties identified

Former Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Gayatri Prajapati, who is in jail in a gang rape case, is facing fresh trouble. The income tax (I-T) department is set to attach 18 more ‘benami’ properties owned by the tainted politician.

According to officials, these properties were purchased in the name of various people, and the income tax department is getting ready to take action under the provisions of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transaction Act, 1988, reported Hindustan Times. The move came three days after the department identified Gayatri Prajapati’s four ‘benami’ properties valued at ₹1.21 crore in the form of plots at different locations in Lucknow.

Recently, the I-T department attached 18 ‘benami’ properties of the former minister in Barabanki, Raebareli, Unnao and Sultanpur. A senior I-T official informed HT that the department was planning to send notices to the purchasers of these properties and attach them through the due legal process.

In December 2022, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) confiscated properties worth ₹65 crore belonging to the former cabinet minister's family members in Amethi, in a disproportionate assets (DA) case against him.

A DA case was registered against Gayatri Prajapati by the ED on December 30, 2020 also, after raids were conducted at seven locations linked to the former minister, his family members as well as aides. The searches were carried out across Lucknow, Kanpur and Amethi.

Who is Gayatri Prajapati?

During the Samajwadi Party government, Gayatri Prajapati served as the mining minister between 2012 and 2017. A woman levelled gangrape charges against him and his associates in 2016 at Gautampalli police station of Lucknow. The former cabinet minister has been in jail since March 2017.