On the 16th of April, the Income Tax (IT) Department carried out coordinated raids at the properties of people living in the Mandya and Hassan districts, Bengaluru, Karnataka. According to sources from the IT Department, the raids were conducted primarily at the properties of people having links with the Janata Dal (Secular) [JD(S.)]
The raids were carried out by four teams, each consisting of 15 members and were conducted at offices, residences and warehouses belonging to people with alleged ties to the JDS.
Close aids of Karnataka Ministers C.S. Puttaraju, Revanna and D.C. Thammanna, are under the radar of the IT Department. According to the Income Tax Department, these associates are involved in laundering money, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
The raids in Karnataka have been going on for quite a while now. On the 28th of March, former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the current Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara held a demonstration outside the Income Tax Department, protesting against the increasing number of raids in Karnataka.
Kumaraswamy lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Twitter last month by saying, “PM Modi’s real surgical strike is out in the open through IT dept raids. The constitutional post offer for IT officer Balakrishna helped the PM in his revenge game. Highly deplorable to use govt machinery, corrupt officials to harass opponents during election time.”
Former Party leader Deve Gowda’s grandsons, Nikhil Kumaraswamy and Prajwal Revanna, are contesting the ongoing Lok Sabha elections from Mandya and Hassan, where the IT Department conducted the raids.
The Karnataka Lok Sabha elections are going to be held during the second phase and the third phase, on the 18th of April and the 23rd of April.
Stay tuned for more updates.
