Meet the Gujarat tea-seller who has 40 bank accounts and property worth Rs 650 crore

Kishore Bhajiawala, a Surat-based tea and snacks vendor who in recent years also turned financier owns property worth Rs 650 crore, as was found out by Income Tax officials searching his house.

A senior Income Tax official, close to the development, said: "So far information on property in name of Kishore Bhajiawala, his family members and associates worth over Rs. 650 crore has been unearthed.

"Over 50 kg of silver, Rs. 1.39 crore worth of diamonds, over Rs. 6.5 crore in cash and several kg of gold have been found stored in multiple lockers."

The department began investigations into his bank accounts, lockers and other property last week, after Bhajiawala deposited over a crore of rupees in his account after demonetisation.

Bhajiawala and his family members were found to have more than 40 bank accounts. Sources have also claimed that more unaccounted money could be expected to be unearthed from him.