BENGALURU: IWC raided 14 properties in Karnataka, Delhi and Mumbai linked to the Chairman of the Karnataka Pradesh Congressional Committee DK Shivakumar and his brother, Bengaluru Rural MP DK Suresh, on Monday.
The CBI launched the raids around 6 am, after the Karnataka government authorized central detectives to investigate corruption charges against them. Searches are likely to continue Tuesday.
The raids come nearly a year after the Congressional problem solver obtained bail in a case alleging money laundering after spending 50 days in Tihar jail. At a press conference in Bengaluru, Shivakumar claimed that Yediyurappa authorized raids against him on September 30 to divert media attention from the Hathras case and hinder his participation in the Sira and RR Nagar assembly votes. “Yediyurappa must answer why he chose September 30 to sanction the raids, after a nationwide protest was announced over the Hathras incident. Should he say why the raids were allowed to take place today, and not before September 30 or at a later date? I was never going to run away, “he said. “I am not afraid of CBI raids. I will not get bogged down with these intimidating tactics from BJP.”
Shivakumar claimed that the CBI confiscated only Rs 6 lakh to Rs 7 lakh of all his properties, including those in Delhi, on Monday, questioning the agency’s statement that around Rs 57 lakh had been recovered. “As an entrepreneur, I am eligible to keep that amount of money in my home,” he said.
A statement from CBI said it has registered a case against Shivakumar based on allegations that it owns Rs 75 crore in assets in its name and that of its relatives that are disproportionate to its sources of income. The CBI claimed that it recovered Rs 57 lakh in cash and documents during the one-day raids.
Nata Congress was arrested by ED on September 23, 2019 in the money laundering case and was booked into Tihar jail. He was released on October 23 after the Delhi High Court granted him bail.
Shivakumar, who faces money laundering and income tax cases, faces charges of accumulating wealth disproportionate to sources of income when he was Minister of Energy in the congressional government from 2014 to 2018. ED sources said that they encountered alleged large-scale irregularities during bidding for solar power plants and approval of applications to install solar panels on rooftops. Transactions with private power generators are under the scanner.
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