BENGALURU: A day after Income Tax officials raided the premises of Umesh M R, who was working in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), he was repatriated to his home department, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC).
Umesh was a driver-cum-conductor attached to the BMTC’s Puttenahalli depot and had been on deputation to the Chief Minister’s Office for about a decade. He is believed to be close to former CM B S Yediyurappa and was apparently the go-to man regarding works related to the Irrigation Department.
Umesh hails from Ayanur in Shivamogga district. On Thursday, Yediyurappa had acknowledged that Umesh had worked in the CMO with him while his son and MP B Y Raghavendra had said that their family knew him for about 12 years.
Though he was directed to report back to his parent department on Friday, Umesh did not turn up for work. It is speculated that he may report for work sometime next week.
On Thursday, Income Tax sleuths had carried out raids at over 50 locations in Karnataka including in Bengaluru, Bagalkot, Belagavi, Vijayapura and Davanagere in connection with tax evasion and amassing wealth more than the known sources of income, sources in the I-T department said.