Tax Raid on "SP's Perfume" led to Mistaken Identity Row

SP Leader slams the BJP got "its businessman raided by mistake"

Lucknow/ Delhi: After, tax-raiding Uttar Pradesh Businessman and seizing worth of Rs 250 crores, a question was raised whether it had found its intended target, opposition Samajwadi Party's Pushpraj 'Pampi' Jain found himself searched by authorities this morning.

According to the officials, 50 locations have been searched by the Income Tax Department in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Mumbai linked to the businessman who owns perfumery, petrol pumps and cold storage operations and had launched a 'Samajwadi Party perfume' ahead of UP elections due early next year.

After the raid, the opposition tweeted that, "After a huge failure last time, this time BJP's ultimate ally IT (Income Tax Department) has finally raided the place of SP MLC Shri Pushpraj Jain and other perfume traders of Kannauj. Openly misuse of central agencies by scared BJP is common in UP elections. People are watching everything; they will answer by vote."

The raid comes amid a fog of speculation surrounding the huge haul at the Kanpur and Kannauj premises of another businessman Piyush Jain, which led to the recovery of Rs 196 crores in cash and 23 kg gold.

Coming in the middle of a high-pitch election campaign, the raids have entered political speeches, with the BJP and Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party accusing each other of backing the jailed perfume trader.

The BJP had alleged that it was Piyush Jain who recently launched the Samajwadi perfume. Taking a swipe at the opposition party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Kanpur on Wednesday, "Boxes filled with notes have come out. The people of Kanpur understand business and trade well. Before 2017, the perfume of corruption that they had sprinkled all over Uttar Pradesh is there for everyone to see."

While doing a fierce response, SP leader Yadav said, the BJP had mixed up businessman Piyush Jain with Samajwadi Party's Pushpraj Jain, who launched the perfume named after the party. Denying any link with Piyush Jain, he said the BJP got "its businessman raided by mistake".