Madhya Pradesh Cook Receives Rs 46 Crore Tax Notice Linked to Fraud Account

A Dhaba cook from Madhya Pradesh, Bhind district, was in shock after he received an income tax notice of Rs 46 crore. He barely earns Rs 10,000 a month and was forced to quit his job and now spends his days shuttling between the income tax office and police stations. The victim, Ravindra Singh, originally from Gandhi Nagar in Bhind, says he had never seen such money in his entire life.

He said, “I work in a Dhaba; there has not been a transaction of even three lakh rupees in my account in a year.”

It all began in 2017-18, when Ravindra earned his livelihood as a helper at a toll plaza run by a private company. A supervisor named Shashi Bhushan Rai, who was from Bihar, influenced Ravindra to open a new bank account in Delhi by promising him faster PF withdrawal and an additional monthly incentive of Rs 5,000 to 10,000. Ravindra got influenced and accompanied him to Delhi with three other employees in November 2019 to open the accounts.

Months later, the promised money never came. So he decided to close his account; however, he was told that he needed approval from the GST branch. Trusting the supervisor, he again left the matter to him.

By 2022, the supervisor left the job and disappeared. Ravindra also lost his job when his contract ended, and later he shifted to Pune to work.

Years later, a notice from the Income Tax Department reached Ravindra’s house in Bhind on April 9, 2025. However, the cook and his wife could not understand the English letter.

And when the second notice arrived on July 25, 2025, Ravindra rushed home and consulted a neighbourhood lawyer, Pradyuman Singh Bhadoria. Later, the lawyer declared the shocking news that a huge Rs 46 crore transaction had been reported in his name.

Later, it was revealed that Ravindra had two accounts, one in Bhind and another in Delhi. The Bhind account showed transactions under Rs 3 lakh in three years, while on the other hand, Investigations revealed that the Delhi account was tied to Shaurya Trading Company, channelling transactions of Rs 46 crore. And around Rs 13 lakh remains deposited in that account.

Lawyer Bhadoria helped Ravindra to approach the Income Tax office in Gwalior and helped him file a complaint with the Siraul police station.

Ravindra’s lawyer argued that he had been misled into opening the Delhi account and was completely unaware of its subsequent misuse.

The Gwalior police, however, distanced themselves from the case, citing jurisdictional limits.

“The complainant opened the account in Delhi under the supervision of his employer. All financial dealings took place there. No offence has occurred in Gwalior. He must approach the authorities in Delhi,” officials stated.

“I had to abandon school after Class 6 because of poverty and took up cooking just to survive. Now I’m being punished for something I never did,” he said.