Liquor baron Rajesh Jalan produced in court in tax evasion case

From a Correspondent

Bokajan, Feb 21: In a significant development, liquor baron Rajesh Jalan was taken into custody by Khatkhati Police and produced in the court of DC, Karbi Anglong in connection with a tax evasion case amounting to around Rs 3 crore here on Tuesday.

Noteworthy that Jalan had been lodged in Guwahati Central Jail after he was arrested by Assam Police CID sleuths from LGBI Airport on his return from Bangkok in December, 2016. He was arrested in relation to a case registered against BG Bonded Warehouse and is charged of excise tax evasion to the tune of Rs 19.86 crore between 2012 and 2015.

Jalan was wanted since quite some time in connection with another excise tax evasion case registered against him in Khatkhati Police Station back in 2014. However, he maged to escape arrest as he enjoyed the patroge of political leaders, officials and bureaucrats in the earlier Congress regime.

According to the complaint, the partner licensee of Sara Distillery Pvt. Ltd. has inherited an excise tax arrear levy of approximately Rs 3 crore due to the illegal practice of Jalan. “Jalan, who was maging the affairs of the Bonded Warehouse between 2009 to 2012, was allegedly involved in the illegal import, transport and sale of IMFL without knowledge of the proprietors and later refused to pay the arrear dues,” a police officer said. Meanwhile, the court rejected Jalan’s bail plea and remanded him to two days police custody for further investigation.