Bidders take part in the I-T department auction on Friday and (above) the Vasi Kunj Complex near Saguna Mor which housed the auctioned flats. Pictures by Nagendra Kumar Singh and Ashok Sinha

The income tax (I-T) department on Friday auctioned the property of tax defaulter and fodder scam accused Tripurari Mohan Prasad to realise its dues.

Sources said Prasad alone owes the department Rs 43 crore to the department, while his family owes around Rs 100 crore.

Of 18 flats up for sale through auction, the I-T could recover Rs 6.91 crore from the sale of 15 flats. Sources added that a decision whether or not to auction the three unsold flats again would be taken later.

Sixteen people registered themselves for the auction of Prasad’s 18 flats in Vasi Kunj Complex near Saguna Mor in Danapur, which was held at the I-T headquarters in the state capital.

“This is for the first time in the history of the Bihar and Jharkhand region of income tax that an auction was held to recover dues from tax defaulters, including dues of Rs 43 crore from Tripurari Mohan Prasad, a fodder scam accused,” I-T commissioner Prashant Bhushan told mediapersons here. Sources said the I-T department would soon start seizing and auctioning the property of 42 people who owe it several crores.

The rates of flats auctioned on Friday ranged from Rs 37.02 lakh (1304sqft super-built area) to Rs 46.23 lakh (1628sqft super-built area).

The I-T department had identified 24 cottahs belonging to Prasad near Saguna Mor.

Prasad, who was a supplier of fodder and medicine in the animal husbandry department, had given the land to a real estate developer to construct 72 flats in two blocks, called Vasi Kunj Complex.

The I-T department had also put up a signboard in front of the complex, declaring the property as attached because of dues to be recovered from the promoter. The notice also advises the public to avoid buying flats in the complex. “The accused owes the I-T department Rs 15.76 crore,” the I-T notice said.

Prasad was among 40 persons convicted by the special judge, CBI court, Ranchi, which heard the fodder scam case, on May 7, 2012. Prasad was sentenced to five years’ rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 1 crore.

Prahlad Sharma, a resident of Dighwara in Saran district, was the first successful bidder who bought a 1,585sqft super-built area flat at Rs 50 lakh in the auction. A successful bidder would have to deposit 25 per cent of the highest bid amount through bank draft by Saturday evening.

Earlier in the day, a piquant situation arose when the bidders assembled in the hall of the I-T office to take part in the auction objected to the auctioneer’s decision to ask them to deposit an earnest money of 25 per cent through cheque.

Later, the I-T commissioner ruled that all successful bidders would have to deposit 25 per cent of earnest money through bank draft by Saturday.

Delhi-based government auctioneer Niadar Mall Jai Krishen conducted the auction in presence of I-T commissioner Prashant Bhushan, recovery tax officer Bijendra Rajak, auctioneer Bijendra Kumar, I-T officer Santosh Dubey and others.