Simultaneous raids on Minister C.S. Puttaraju & kin, Hassan PWD contractors; CM, JD(S) leaders huddled at Infosys Mysuru

Mysuru:  In a pre-dawn swoop that came barely hours after Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy expressed fear of Income Tax (I-T) raids on the residences of the party leaders, I-T officials, along with armed Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, carried out multiple raids on the houses of JD(S) leaders in Bengaluru, Mandya, Mysuru and Hassan.

The targets of the raids were Mandya District in-Charge Minister C.S. Puttaraju, MLC B.M. Farooq and a few officials allegedly close to PWD Minister H.D. Revanna. Kumaraswamy had claimed that “revenge politics” was afoot through “misuse of Central agencies.” The I-T Department began search and seizure operations at multiple locations in Bengaluru late last night and continued their operation today morning. Those raided include businessmen who are politically linked, sources said.

5 AM OPERATION: According to JD(S) sources, the search operation started at 5 am at Chinakurali, the native village of Minister Puttaraju near Pandavapura.

The search operations were carried out in Mandya town also where Puttaraju’s house was raided. The house of Mandya Zilla Panchayat Member Ashok was also raided. Ashok is the nephew of Puttaraju.

Similarly, the office of Farooq at Residency Road and his residence at Shanthinagar in Bengaluru are being searched. Last night, residences of five businessmen said to be associated with the Congress and JD(S) were raided in South Bengaluru at around 10 pm.

THREE FAMILIES, ONE HOUSE: In Mysuru, the raids began at 5.30 am at House Number 466, owned by Ashok at Vijayanagar Third Stage, Third Main, A1 Block. Ashok is the son of Puttaraju’s brother late Sanna Thammannegowda and is a ZP member in Mandya.

Ashok’s brother Shivakumar is a Gram Panchayat Member at Chinakurali and another brother Harish Kumar owns a stone crusher unit at Chinakurali. All the brothers were staying in a four-storied house at Vijayanagar Third Stage.

The brothers used to undertake contracts and were in real estate business. Ashok is building one more house at Vijayanagar Fourth Stage and the house is still under construction. The raid in Mysuru was carried out by a team of 15 I-T officials and 10 armed CRPF personnel accompanied them. The raids that began early in the morning, continued till we went to press.

PHONES SEIZED

At around 10.30 am, the family members in the houses were led separately for breakfast by I-T teams as they were not allowed to cook breakfast. Their mobile phones have been confiscated and officials are examining property and business papers. They also packed breakfast to other members of the family, sources said.

The local Police did not have a clue about the raids and hearing about the raids, Narasimharaja Police led by ACP Dharanesh and Vijayanagar Inspector P.G. Kumar summoned a KSRP platoon and deployed 20 Police personnel in front of the house that was being raided. The entire process of the raids were being photographed and videographed.

PHOTO EVIDENCE

A separate team of I-T officials visited Ashok’s house at Vijayanagar Fourth Stage and returned empty-handed as the house was under construction. But the officials took photos and videos of the house. One more team raided the house of B. Revanna, President of Mysuru District Lorry Owners’ Association at Naganahalli on Mysuru-Bengaluru Highway. Revanna too owns a stone crusher unit at Chinakurali. Here too, the I-T team is searching for documents, assets and other sources of money.

PUTTARAJU REACTS

Reacting to the IT raids, Minister C.S. Puttaraju confirmed that the IT raid started at early morning. “But I have proof and documents for even Rs. 10 income. So why shall I bother? I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for this raid,” he said.

The Minister said he was not afraid of the raids and instead, it had instilled confidence in him. “I’m not deterred by the raids, which are election-related. I would like to know which BJP leader’s house in Karnataka has been raided,” he added.

HASSAN PWD OFFICE TARGETED

According to the Police sources, I-T Department is carrying out a search operation even in the PWD Department Office in Hassan city. “As per the information we received, search operation is on in PWD Office and residences of a few PWD officers who are allegedly close to Minister Revanna,” said Police.

Alleging that the I-T raids were politically motivated, Minister H.D. Revanna said the raids would benefit the JD(S) increase its vote share. “These raids will not affect us in any sense. In fact, we will get 10% more votes because of these raids,” he told media.

The Minister said he was not against the raids. If something wrong had been committed, let the officers take action. “I am not afraid of such raids. This was expected. The I-T officer B.R. Balakrishna is a BJP agent. He is working as a servant of BJP,” he said.

Protest at Pandavapura

As the news of IT raids on Puttaraju and his relatives spread, his supporters blocked the Pandavapura-Channarayapatna Highway throwing the vehicular movement out of gear. Hundreds of vehicles were stranded on both sides of the Highway. Additional Police personnel have been sent to convince the  agitating activists.

Meanwhile, Puttaraju has arrived in Mysuru to meet the senior leaders of the party including CM H.D. Kumaraswamy to discuss the future course of action. They are huddled at the high-security Infosys campus in Hebbal, Mysuru and are discussing strategies to counter the raids.