Bengaluru: Did an alert cab driver, who found bookings of a large number of SUVs to Hassan, Mandya and Mysuru very unusual, tip off JD(S) leaders on likely tax raids?  

In a video that is doing rounds in social media, a JD(S) women’s wing leader from Mandya has claimed that she had alerted CM Kumaraswamy on Wednesday night about possible I-T raids on political leaders and associates of PWD Minister H.D. Revanna. She told the CM that her information was based on clues provided by a cab driver from Nagamangala near Mandya.

The woman, with her face covered in the video, said the driver worked in Bengaluru and got suspicious when a large number of SUVs booked to Hassan, Mandya and Shivamogga for Wednesday and Thursday. The driver, during a conversation with the woman, suspected that the vehicles had been booked to transport I-T officials to the destinations where the raids were planned.

“The cab driver called me (on Tuesday) and shared details about how many vehicles were  booked, what time they would arrive at the airport, and where they were heading to,” she said. She then tipped off Minister C.S. Puttaraju and other JD(S) leaders who passed on the information to the CM.

The CM told reporters in Mandya on Wednesday night that he had “received information that I-T personnel were preparing to swoop down on politicians” ahead of the LS polls.  According to sources, the particular cab driver has been identified and the I-T officials are contemplating initiation of action against him.