NEW DELHI/BENGALURU: Even as they are dealing with the cases related to Income Tax department raids on their premises, senior Congress leader D K Shivakumar and his brother and Congress MP D K Suresh came under CBI scanner. On Thursday, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided Suresh’s Personal Assistant and a few others in an alleged illegal currency conversion case.
The CBI raided residences and an office of some individuals including Suresh’s PA. The search operations were conducted at five places in Bengaluru, Kanakapura and Ramanagara on charges of illegally exchanging demonetised currency worth Rs10 lakh.
Shivakumar and his brother Suresh accused the Central government of misusing the CBI to harass them. “Intimidating tactics and arm-twisting will not work. We are ready to face any consequences,” Shivakumar told reporters while reacting to CBI raids on their close associates.
The CBI had registered a case against bank officials and private persons in 2017. According to the CBI, during investigation, it was found that 120 voter ID cards were printed and used without the knowledge of the holders of the cards to exchange demonetised currency notes with new ones. Besides, photocopies of driving licences without the knowledge of the DL holders were enclosed with the requisition slips to cover up the unauthorised exchange.
"Searches were conducted at five places in Bengaluru, Kanakapura and Ramanagara which includes Election Cell, Kanakapura, and an office at Ramanagara and three residences of the election cell in-charge Shivananda, election cell clerk Nanjappa and one Padmanabaiah. Padmanabaiah who is a PA to D K Suresh had allegedly exchanged the SBN notes in the bank," CBI said. The investigating agency stated that a case against Prakash and some officials of Corporation Bank and others was registered on April 7, 2017.
While Suresh is the MP from Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha constituency, Shivakumar represents Kanakapura in the assembly.
“During investigation it was found that the accused on November 10th and 11th printed 120 voter ID cards with the connivance of local election cell officials. They also misused the stamp of Returning Officer and later used the voter cards to exchange money from the bank with the connivance of bank officials,” CBI said.
The CBI said the raids were carried out on charges that Corporation Bank’s Ramanagara branch’s Chief Manager B Prakash, in connivance with 'unknown others', had illegally exchanged `10 lakh of scrapped currency notices with new ones on November 14, 2016. He has also been accused of preparing 250 fabricated requisition slips subsequently to cover up his illegal act.
During the searches, incriminating materials pertaining to the generation of the alleged duplicate voter ID cards used for illegal exchange of currency were collected along with the hologram stock register. The suspected hard disk was imaged and seized, the CBI said.
Former minister Shivakumar, his relatives, and associates were raided by the I-T department last year. “Since 7-8 months we are being targeted and harassed,” Shivakumar said.
Places raided
1. Residential premises of Padmanabhaiah, PA to MP D K Suresh at T Begur in Nelamangala
2. Residential premises of Shivananda, Deputy Tahsildar, In-charge of Election
Cell, Kanakapura Taluk Office, at BHCS Layout in Uttarahalli
3. Residential premises of Nanjappa (FDC at Election Cell, Kanakapura Taluk Office), at Basaveshwara Nagara, Maharaja Katte Raste, Kanakapura Town.
4. Election Cell, Office of Tahsildar, Kanakapura Town, Ramanagara.
5. District Office at Ramanagara.