JOIN USThe I-T sleuths on Wednesday grilled close associates of Energy Minister D K Shivakumar and his relatives based on documents recovered from houses and offices.
The sleuths conducted searches at the residence of MLC S Ravi at Kanakapura, Ramanagaram district, and recovered documents. Ravi has been a close associate of Shivakumar. The sleuths questioned him about his financial dealings. Two others grilled by the sleuths in Bengaluru are Vinay Karthik, one of the personal assistants of Shivakumar, Dwarakanth Guruji, his family astrologer, and Subhash Balaji, a businessman.
The I-T officials conducted raids on the houses of the relatives of Shivakumar, including his father-in-law R Thimmaiah in Mysuru since the early hours on Wednesday. Similar simultaneous raids were conducted in Bengaluru and Ramanagaram districts. The I-T officials, who arrived in Mysuru like tourists around 6.30 am, hired cabs and dispersed to conduct the raids at multiple locations.
It is learnt that the officials seized vital documents. They declined to divulge any information. The search and enquiry were conducted behind closed doors. Even the windows of the houses were covered with curtains and other clothes.
The raids were conducted on Thimmaiah’s house near the Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens in Ittigegudu area, one in TK Layout and another house in Dattagalli. The details of raids on other relatives were not available. The raids stretched over 10 hours.
Thimmaiah said it is the duty of the I-T officials to verify facts when they get complaints. “I have no objection to the visit of officials to my house and factory. I accompanied them to my shikakai (soapnut) factory,” he said. Congress workers staged a protest against the Centre, following the raids on the premises of Shivakumar and his relatives.
Protests
Meawhile, Congress workers in Kanakapura, the Assembly constituency represented by Energy Minister D K Shivakumar, erupted in protest over the income tax raids on the senior politician. Hundreds of Congress workers took part in a flash protest in front of Gandhi Bhavan. They burnt the effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president Amit Shah and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
They accused the Central government of “targeting” only Congress politicians. In Ramanagaram, too, Congress workers blocked the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway in protest, disrupting traffic on the busy road. Police rushed to the spot and pacified the agitators.
In Mangaluru, Congress workers threw stones at the Central Revenue Building at Attavar here on Wednesday in protest against the income tax raids on the properties of Energy Minister D K Shivakumar.
Congress workers, led by corporator A C Vinay Raj, staged a protest in front of Central Revenue Building which houses the Income Tax Department’s offices. Some of them threw stones at the building and broke the glass doors. But police stopped them from barging into the building. At least 11 persons have been arrested.