I-T sleuths raiding Congress functionary’s house to defame me: D K Shivakumar
Kanakapura (Karnataka), Apr 24: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Wednesday said the Income Tax sleuths were raiding the houses of Congress block presidents to defame him and to obstruct them from election campaigning.
“The IT department is conducting raids on Congress party workers deliberately in order to prevent them from election campaigning,” he said in a statement.
Seeking to know whether BJP and JD(S) candidates were not distributing money, Shivakumar, who is also the Congress state president, asked why there were no raids on them.
The IT department is ready with a list of people to target and they are going by that, he claimed.
“They are pressurising contractors to attribute the money found from them to D K Shivakumar. They raided the house of DK Suresh’s driver and manhandled his wife and children during the raid,” the DCM alleged.
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The IT department could not find any cash in any of the raids on our party workers, Shivakumar said, adding this was a deliberate ploy to obstruct the Congress election campaign.
“They (I-T sleuths) are specifically targeting the Bengaluru Rural district fearing election loss,” he added.
Meanwhile, Congress workers staged a protest against I-T raids on Congress MP D K Suresh’s close associate here on Wednesday.
The party workers raised slogans against the BJP for the I-T raids on the house of Gangadhar, a former councilor and an associate of Congress MP D K Suresh.
They accused the BJP government at the Centre of "tying the hands" of the Congress candidate by carrying out an I-T raid on his associates.
“Gangadhar has a lot of land and is wealthy. There are a lot of wealthier people in BJP but no I-T raids are conducted on them. The I-T department is targeting associates of D K Shivakumar and D K Suresh to obstruct their campaigning,” the protesters accused.
IT raids were also carried out at the houses of Gottigere Block Congress President Sridhar, D K Suresh’s personal secretary Sujay, Chandru, Lakshman and Babu, according to sources close to Shivakumar.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
