IT raids residence of Congress candidate contesting in Karna

Officials of the Income Tax and Excise department jointly carried out raids at the residence of K B Koliwad, a Congress candidate from Ranebennur assembly segment, drawing the ire of the party workers.

The searches took place on Tuesday (December 3) night at the Ranebennur residence of the former Assembly Speaker following complaints of liquor and cash hoarding, officials said.

“Following a complaint about the hoarding of liquor and a cash of ₹10 crore, we raided the place. We didn’t find anything,” Haveri Excise chief, Nagashayan told reporters.

The raids come in the run-up to assembly bypolls in 15 segments in Karnataka following the disqualification of the MLAs from Congress and the JD(S) which led to the toppling of the coalition government and installation of the BJP government led by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.

Reacting to the raids, Koliwad said, “They (IT department officials) came to our house but found nothing and returned empty handed.” Talking to reporters, he said that ever since the BJP came to power, it has been pursuing the politics of vendetta and many Congress leaders such as P Chidambaram and D K Shivakumar faced the action.

The raids drew the ire of Congress workers who staged a protest in front of the vehicle in which the taxmen had arrived.