Officials from the Commercial Tax Department conducted a raid at the home of R Shankar, a Member of the Legislative Council in Ranebennur, Karnataka’s Haveri district on Wednesday, March 15. The raid led to the seizure of items worth around Rs 30 lakh, which were allegedly meant for distribution ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections. Among the seized items were 6,000 saris, 9,000 school and college bags, plates, and household items.

As the raid was being conducted at his residence in Beeralingeshwar Nagar of Ranebennur, Shankar was questioned about the GST (goods and service tax) bill for the items that were stored there. According to reports, Shankar stated that he would produce the bill soon.

Shankar was elected to the Ranebennur Assembly seat in 2018 from Pragnyavantha Janatha Party. He later shifted his allegiance to BJP in 2019 and was disqualified, along with 16 other legislators. The BJP did not field him for the Assembly bye-election and he was made an MLC. The Ranebennur Assembly seat is presently held by BJP’s Arunkumar Pujar. The raid came just days after Lokayukta police conducted a search and seizure operation at the home of Prashanth Madal, son of BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa. The sleuths found Rs. 6.1 crore in cash and Prashanth and others are currently being questioned.