The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Firms linked to Shivakumar raided

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Wednesday, Nov 08, 2006
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Firms linked to Shivakumar raided

Staff Reporter

Raids are part of vindictive politics practised by his foes, former Minister says

CHECKING RECORDS: Commercial Tax officials at a company owned by D.K. Suresh (left), brother of former Minister D.K. Shivakumar, in Bangalore on Tuesday. — Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

BANGALORE: Officials of the Commercial Tax Department on Tuesday raided commercial establishments linked to former Congress Minister D.K. Shivakumar.

Reacting to the raids, Mr. Shivakumar alleged that they were carried out on Government's instructions with a view to defaming him. "It is taking politics to low levels and is nothing but a political vendetta by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy," he told The Hindu.

He said that his family members would take legal recourse against the action of the Commercial Taxes Department. "All our businesses are transparent," he claimed.

The officials, however, denied that the companies raided were in anyway linked to Mr. Shivakumar.

According to D.K. Suresh, brother of Mr. Shivakumar, two teams comprising eight members each visited three granite firms, SUVI Granites, India Rocks and Victory Exports, in Gandhinagar. They checked various records, including the returns filed for the sales, and transport permits.

The two teams were on the three premises for nearly four hours, Mr. Suresh said.

"We showed them all documents related to our quarrying in Kanakapura and the sale of granite. We also them that we were not transacting any business after the ban on quarrying in Kanakapura," Mr. Suresh said. The officials also raided two other granite firms, Shivashakti Enterprises and Skand Enterprises of Rajajinagar, owned by K. Shrinivas, a relative of Mr. Shivakumar. The officials `visited' Hen Rux, a firm owned by Shivakumar's friend Suseel in J.P. Nagar, Mr. Suresh said.

Mr. Shivakumar, who was an Urban Development Minister, said the raids were part of the vindictive politics practised by his foes in the Government. "They want to build a record against me just before the byelection. However, the records maintained by the firms are all clear," he said.

The officials said they had raided 10 firms, including some manufacturing and jewellery units, as part of their routine investigation.

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