Investigators of the Income Tax Department on Monday raided the offices of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Janardhan Reddy’s mining company, days after his daughter’s wedding. The former Karnataka minister’s Obulapuram Mining Company came under the taxman’s radar after a Bengaluru-based advocate claimed that the mining baron had allegedly spent more than Rs 500 crore on the wedding. Sleuths are reportedly examining documents seized from the offices.
In the four-page complaint to the Directorate-General of Income Tax, activist T Narasimha Murthy sought to know how Reddy had funded the wedding, especially after the Centre demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 8. Activists had demanded that the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation launch an inquiry into Reddy’s expenditure towards the wedding, which was attended by several high-profile figures such as Karnataka Home Affairs Minister G Parameshwara and state BJP President BS Yeddyurappa.
Reddy was one of the main accused in the 2010-11 illegal mining scam in Karnataka, for which he has served a 40-month sentence in jail. While he had been keeping a low profile since his release on conditional bail in January 2015, he was back in news after he sent out an invitation, which came in a box with an LCD screen, for his daughter’s wedding
Referring to the cases against Reddy, Murthy said that authorities had seized assets worth Rs 70 crore belonging to him and his wife. “He still managed to invest crores of rupees on his daughter’s wedding. How can this be possible?” Murthy had asked. Another activist had said it was an “attack on the Constitution” to allow the BJP leader “to display his wealth without any checks” as the common man grappled with a cash crunch since the Centre’s demonetisation move.
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