Income Tax recovers Rs. 42 crore during Karnataka Operations
The Income Tax Department officials in the search and seizure operations at the properties of several Karnataka Contractors have recovered more than Rs.42 Crores. The department is yet to release any official statement on the search operation.
As per the sources, the money that was recovered is from the residence of Congress leader and former Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike corporator Ashwathamma and her husband contractor R Ambikapathy.
The raids sparked a political brawl in Karnataka and neighbouring poll-bound Telangana, with Congress’s rivals — the BJP, JD (S), and BRS — alleging that the money confiscated during the search operation was part of Congress’s “illegal fund collection,” intended to be spent on campaigning for the five-state assembly elections.
Ambikapathy is the vice-president of the Karnataka State Contractors’ Association coincidentally, which accused the previous Basavaraj Bommai government of charging a 40% commission on all projects. Kempanna, the president of the Association, gave the state government a deadline of 30 days to clear 50% of the total pending dues amounting to Rs. 20,000 crore. He threatened contractors with a strike if the debts were not paid.
According to sources, while several contractors’ properties were searched, IT department sleuths discovered cash only at Ambikapathy’s RT Nagar address. The large cash stash at the flat, where he does not live, was reportedly kept in more than 20 cardboard boxes.
The searches continued at multiple locations even late on Friday, according to officials from the IT department.
Telangana minister K T Rama Rao claimed that the Rs. 42 crore seized from the former Congress corporator’s home was intended to fund the Telangana Congress’s campaign in the assembly elections. T Harish Rao, Rao’s ministerial colleague, also linked the cash seizures to Telangana election funding, alleging that the Congress is pumping crores of rupees into Telangana to buy votes in the polls.
Karnataka BJP MLA Munirathna claimed that the Karnataka State Contractors’ Association had become a collection agent for the Congress.
However, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar denied the allegations. “There is no IT raid in the country without a political motive,” he said, adding that the Centre had previously used the income tax department to target BJP opponents.
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