Mayawati aide raided by Income Tax wing

Lucknow:The Lucknow and New Delhi residences of retired IAS officer Net Ram, a close aide of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, were raided by the Income Tax department on Tuesday, officials said.

IT officials said the raids were unleashed for suspected tax evasion running into several crores of rupees. More than a dozen locations were searched in all.

Considered close to the Bahujan Samaj Party chief, the 1979-batch IAS officer was part of a group of powerful bureaucrats who ran the show when Mayawati was the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.

He was Principal Secretary (Home) in 2007-12 and later rose to became Mayawati's Principal Secretary. Post retirement, he advised Mayawati and was reportedly contemplating the Lok Sabha polls on BSP ticket.