I-T Dept searches premises of kin of ex-minister Imran Reza Ansari

The Income Tax Department Thursday carried out searches at two premises of a kind of Imran Reza Ansari, a former minister in the PDP-BJP coalition, for alleged tax evasion, officials said here. They said the income tax officials, assisted by the Jammu and Kashmir police and the CRPF, carried out the searches at a business complex in the upmarket Karan Nagar where locations of North Point Complex were searched by the tax personnel.

Later, a team was sent to search other premises of the family at Alamgiri Bazar in the downtown Srinagar. The income tax officials maintained that Thursday's raids were carried out on a business family and were in no way connected to Ansari, a politician who switched over to People's Conference led by Sajad Lone.

Ansari's sister is married to the family whose premises have been raided.