43 booked for threatening, manhanding I-T team

Ludhiana: Police on Friday booked 43 people, including businessmen and workers, for manhandling and intimidating income-tax officials during an I-T survey on a garment manufacturing company on October 10.
In the FIR registered at Salem Tabri police station, police have named three businessmen Tarun Jain Bawa (president of Bahadurke Road textile and knitwear association), Amarjit Singh Dua and Amanpreet Singh Dua (owners of Dua enterprises) as main conspirators of leading groups to obstruct the I-T survey besides instigating them to threaten and intimidate the officers.

Following the survey, Veer Enterprises located on Bahadurke Road had surrendered Rs 64 lakh as undisclosed income.

But during the survey, the officers had been surrounded by a mob of businessmen and thousands of workers who had manhandled the senior most officer of the team.

In his complaint to the police, Sardar Lal Meena, assistant commissioner of income tax, circle-3, Rishi Nagar, alleged, “On October 10 when an I-T team along with cops entered the premises of Veer Enterprises for survey, Amarjeet and Amanpreet instigated 30 to 40 unknown persons, who entered the factory in unauthorised manner and started threatening the I-T team with dire consequences if the team did not vacate the premises.”

“They even stopped the team from carrying out the survey even after they were requested to leave the spot. When ACIT Meena started recording the episode on his mobile phone, Dua brothers manhandled him and forcefully snatched his mobile phone by twisting his arm,” the complainant further alleged.

“A little later, Tarun Jain Bawa too entered the premises and abused ACIT and his team. Bawa instigated others to shout inflammatory slogans against the I-T team. Bawa and Dua brothers provoked the workers of the factory to protest against the survey and block the road outside the factory and they also asked the members of their association to gather more workers from the nearby factories,” he further claimed.

Police have registered a case under Sections 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of duty), 186 (Obstructing public servant in discharge of public function), 332 (Voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 379B (Theft), 201 (Causing disappearance of evidence of offence), 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation) and 109 (Punishment of abetment) of the IPC.

It has also been alleged in the complaint that the accused had deleted the video recordings of entire episode captured by Meena on his mobile phone and even formatting the data from CCTV cameras installed in the factory.

Meanwhile, neither Bawa nor Dua brothers could be contacted.