Congress' DK Shivakumar has been brought to his Bengaluru house for questioning
The Income Tax Department searching for alleged incriminating material at properties belonging to Karnataka Congress legislator DK Shivakumar is a
politically-motivated move, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said today. Mr Shivakumar is overseeing the stay of 44 Congress legislators from Gujarat at a resort near Bengaluru.
The chief minister said the I-T searches were an attempt to silence the voice against the BJP. "I-T raids targeting energy minister D K Shivakumar is completely politically motivated and central government's role behind it is well known. It is not right on the part of central government to use I-T department for its political conspiracies. We will not bow down to such intimidation," Mr Siddaramaiah said in a statement.
Mr Shivakumar is also the Congress' propaganda committee chief for the 2018 assembly polls. According to rules, during such searches, income tax officials should use involve the local police, but "by violating rules CRPF staff were used", the chief minister said.
"Let I-T officials conduct raids and investigation by following rules and let people know the truth. Instead, if such raids are conducted with political vengeance, people will teach lesson in the days to come," he said. "I-T raid is being used as a tool to silence the voice against BJP. This is anti-democratic," he said.
Mr Shivakumar has been brought to his Bengaluru house for questioning by I-T officials. The Gujarat Congress legislators have been camping at the resort since Saturday last.