I-T raids keeper of Congress flock

Bengaluru: Congress leader and state energy minister D.K. Shivakumar, who took on the onerous task of keeping 44 of the Congress’ Gujarat MLAs safe from the BJP’s clutches, paid a huge price for his loyalty. On Wednesday morning, a team of IT officials, backed by armed Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) forces, raided his room at the plush Eagleton resort on the outskirts of the city. He had been staying at the resort since July 28.

Giving him just under an hour to get dressed, he was bundled into a car and driven straight to his home in the city, along with officials from the directorate of income tax (investigation), Karnataka and Goa, carrying cash-counting machines. Simultaneously, teams of I-T officials fanned across the city, raiding his offices and other properties. 

Income-tax officials told this newspaper that they seized Rs 2 crore from the minister’s home in Bengaluru. This was denied by the Congress, as was the claim that Mr Sivakumar had been shredding documents when the IT officials walked into his Eagleton resort hotel suite.

The I-T raided 60 other separate locations across the city, including the home of the minister’s brother, D.K. Suresh, also an MP, his family home in Kanakpura where his mother was interrogated, as well as the offices of two major real estate and transport firms which allegedly have links with the minister.

They also raided apartment No. 5 on Safdarjung Road in New Delhi which reportedly belongs to the energy minister. I-T officials claimed that they seized `8 crore in cash.

Mr Shivakumar had rushed back from Singapore to ensure that Congress MLAs from Gujarat, flown in on July 28 from Ahmedabad to Bengaluru, did not cross sides after six Congress MLAs joined the BJP, ahead of the Aug. 8 RS elections where senior Congress adviser Ahmed Patel is seeking re-election.

I-T officials have told this newspaper that Mr Shivakumar was caught unawares and was grilled for hours on his alleged undeclared wealth and disproportionate assets running into crores.

The I-T officials said that the searches were conducted under Section 132 of the Income Tax Act, which is an evidence gathering exercise and in compliance with all statutory requirements.

Top sources in the I-T said that the searches were planned much in advance and were part of an ongoing investigation on tax evasion and undeclared assets of the minister. 

Mr Shivakumar’s name had allegedly figured in state MLC Govindraju’s diary, which was seized in a raid by the income-tax officials in March 2016.

The diary had several initials of names, which are said to be of top Congress politicians. One of them was DKS, the initials of D.K. Shivakumar.

“The searches are the continuation of an investigation, which has been in progress for a considerable period of time. There is no conspiracy behind the raids. They were decided well in advance. To infer that the raids have been timed with certain MLAs, who have been brought to the city from another state, is inaccurate. We have questioned the minister, who was staying at the resort near Bengaluru, where some MLAs from another state are put up. The raids have nothing to do with the other MLAs. Only the minister’s room was searched,” an I-T source said.

Officials close to the minister told this newspaper that Mr Shivakumar has allowed I-T officials to open all the cupboards and lockers in his home but was refusing to answer questions, saying his lawyers would do the talking. It was unclear whether he was under arrest. Officials indicated that he could be placed under arrest by late Wednesday night.

The income-tax sleuths are reported to have unearthed documents pertaining to the alleged benami properties worth crores from the minister’s residence in Sadashivanagar.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is expected to join the search operations following the recovery of property documents. According to a source, the IT officials may refer the case to ED on Thursday. 

According to a source, the minister had stashed the property documents in lockers and there were many lockers at his residence, which the officials are yet to open.

Sources in the Congress have slammed the raids as “a witch-hunt” and part of the BJP’s “dirty tricks” to ensure that the 44 Congress MLAs from Gujarat — 10 of whom told this reporter that being industrialists, they expected to be harassed — would be intimidated into not voting for Congress’ top honcho, Mr Ahmed Patel.

Congress officials said that the party top brass’ allegations that the BJP had offered Rs 15 crore each to its MLAs to vote against Mr Patel had upset the BJP, and that they were even more upset when they learnt that Mr Shivakumar had told the Gujarat MLAs that he would match the BJP’s offer. 

This information somehow got leaked and the IT raids were planned to expose the financial deal, top sources said.