The Income Tax Department (ITD) has recovered over Rs 42 crore in cash during raids on two contractors in Karnataka. The raids were conducted on Saturday at the premises of BSR Infratech and Star Infratech in Bengaluru and other parts of the state.
The ITD has alleged that the contractors were involved in tax evasion and money laundering. The department has seized incriminating documents and digital evidence during the raids.
The searches sparked a political spat between Karnataka’s ruling Congress and the BJP, just days before assembly elections in five states.
Investigations are currently active as official sources confirmed to PTI that stringent search operations are underway following the massive recovery of unaccounted cash from a residential premise in the capital city of Karnataka.
Reportedly, the residence was unoccupied, and the illegal cash holdings were found stashed in numerous cardboard boxes.
As the searches continue, investigators have recovered more than Rs 42 crore in undeclared cash, raising serious questions about its intended use. The Department is investigating a possible connection with the forthcoming assembly polls in the neighbouring state of Telangana, PTI quoted sources as saying.
Former Deputy Chief Minister and current BJP leader, C N Ashwath Narayan, has directed harsh allegations towards the state’s Congress government following the massive recovery. Narayan claims that the undisclosed sum was accumulated from contractors as commission, intended to fund the upcoming elections in five states.
“This proves the ‘ATM government’ allegations (against Congress govt) with evidence…. This is the small size consignment of the collection by the ‘ATM government’ that has been caught. Many such things are there. This is collected money. This is just a sample,” he said and urged other contractors to speak out about the money they had allegedly paid.
BJP leader and MLC N Ravi Kumar, during a press meet in Hyderabad, revealed that a stunning Rs 42 crore was seized from a contractor’s premises. Allegedly stored in 23 boxes, the currency notes are all 500-rupee denominations. Ravi
Kumar claims that this massive stash was stealthily amassed in the wake of the upcoming Telangana elections. Further, he alleged that the cash was a form of “commission” for expediting the clearance of Rs 650 crore, part of pending dues from the government owed to various contractors.
Ravi Kumar has demanded a thorough investigation into the case. His allegations echo similar accusations by several other BJP leaders against the ruling Congress government.
Rejecting the “baseless” allegations, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, “No state (unit of Congress) will ask (for money). We won’t give it also… Have you seen it? Have they (BJP members making the allegations) seen it (money given to other states)? What is there to make such false allegations?”
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, reacting to a question on the I-T raids, said, “Without politics, I-T won’t come. What is happening is politics. We too are aware of what is happening in Chhattisgarh, Telangana and other states. Where BJP is in power, nothing will happen; where BJP is not in power, such things happen.”
Assembly polls in Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Mizoram will be held between November 7 and 30.
With inputs from PTI
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