SHIVAMOGGA/UDUPI : Hemmed in by repeated Income Tax raids amidst a tightly fought election, the ruling Congress-JDS coalition in the state has been crying foul. On Friday, sources claimed that the I-T officials unearthed about Rs 10 crore in these raids conducted on properties owned by PWD contractors, engineers and intermediaries in different parts of the state. Among those raided was also a close relative of JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda.
Sources said IT officials have confiscated Rs 6.04 crore from DT Paramesh, the relative of Gowda and owner of Shruthi Motors on Shankar Mutt Road in Shivamogga city. Based on a tip-off, they had conducted searches on March 28. Paramesh had stashed huge amounts collected from contractors to be passed on to politicians for electioneering and distribution among voters, they added.
In the course of the search, sources, added, that lockers in Canara Bank and Karnataka Bank of DT Paramesh were sealed. No less than Rs 6,04,08,000 was found in the lockers, the source added. Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, in a statement recently had said that his relative Paramesh was being targeted simply because of political vendetta.
He had also said that nothing had been found in the raids. The total seizure is estimated to be nearly Rs 10 crore, the I-T sources added. In Bengaluru Urban district, the department has seized cash of Rs 26 lakh from one Nagesh Reddy and investigation is in progress. The department has also seized Rs 31 lakh from V Sridhar at Hoskote.In Holenarsipur of Hassan district, the officials have seized Rs 25 lakh from an individual, the sources said.
In Udupi, I-T officials, along with the flying squad, raided the houses of two local Congress leaders in Katapadi area on Thursday. Sadashiva Kattegudde runs a financial firm and Laxman is a local gram panchayat member. Laxman also has real estate business.