IT raids continue in Karnataka, not even Rs 10 unaccounted money seized, claims Kumaraswamy
Bengaluru, Mar 29: Income Tax officials continued their searches in parts of Karnataka Friday, even as Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy claimed that not even Rs ten unaccounted money was found in the raids.
In a pre-dawn swoop Thursday, I-T sleuths had carried out coordinated raids at many locations across Bengaluru, Ramanagara, Kanakapura, Mandya, Mysuru, Hassan and Shimoga.
"It has not concluded yet," an I-T official said without divulging any details.
Taking to the streets, Kumaraswamy had on Thursday staged a protest in front of the I-T department here in the first such protest by the State chief minister in recent memory.
The crackdown came within a day after Kumaraswamy claimed Wednesday night that the I-T raids had been planned from 5 am on Thursday.
The ruling Congress-JDS alliance alleged that the I-T raids were carried out on JD(S) leaders overseeing the elections of Kumaraswamy's son, Nikhil, in Mandya and nephew Prajwal Revanna in Hassan.
Kumaraswamy said, "I was watching the television, (where it was claimed that) crores of rupees were found.
Did your income tax officers get even Rs 10? Why did they go for it (raids)? It was intentional."
He sought to know why the BJP leaders were spared from the raid and only Congress and JD(S) leaders were targeted.
"Whom did they raid? Did they raid the houses of BJP leaders? Are the BJP leaders poor? Do they seek vote by prostrating without giving money?" the chief minister said.
Meanwhile, Congress state unit president Dinesh Gundu Rao wrote to President Ramnath Kovind alleging that the raids were conducted to create a fear psychosis among the voters.
In the letter, a copy of which was released to the media, he said the I-T department was carrying out raids on the relatives of Congress and JD(S) leaders to mar the election prospects and create a fear psychosis among voters, supporters, leaders and candidates of the alliance partners.
Rao requested the President to direct the income tax department to desist from conducting raids in the interest of free and fair elections.
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Russian general killed by bomb under his car in Moscow
Moscow (AP): A Russian general was killed on Monday morning after an explosive device detonated underneath his car in southern Moscow, investigators said.
Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Operational Training Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces' General Staff, died from his injuries, Svetlana Petrenko, official spokesperson for Russia's Investigative Committee, said.
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“Investigators are pursuing numerous lines of enquiry regarding the murder. One of these is that the crime was orchestrated by Ukrainian intelligence services,” Petrenko said.
Russian news outlets reported that a car exploded in a parking lot on Moscow's Yaseneva Street with the driver inside at approximately 7 am.
Ukraine's security service claimed responsibility for a similar attack against a high-ranking Russian soldier in December 2024.
Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the chief of the military's nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces, was killed by a bomb hidden on an electric scooter outside his apartment building a day after Kyiv levelled criminal charges against him. His assistant, Ilya Polikarpov, was also killed.
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