Karnataka Energy Minister DK Shivakumar, who has been under the I-T scanner for the past few days, on Saturday claimed that his innocence will be proved, even as the raids came to an end as per a report in Business Standard.
"I would like to thank leaders across the country, who stood by me in the crisis. I don't want to embarrass my party. It is my duty to be a party worker. I will not let down my party and its leaders. I have cooperated with all the officials. Truth will only come out," he told media.
The Income Tax department raided Shivakumar’s properties in Bengaluru and Delhi for three consecutive days.
Earlier on Friday, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah questioned the timing of the I-T raids.
He said, "I am not against raids per se but look at their timing and the use of central (para-military) forces for it, which undermines our federal structure.”
While calling the raids 'politically motivated' by the central government, the Chief Minister alleged that the rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had no moral right to say the searches were a fight against corruption when so many of its leaders were facing serious graft charges.
Shivakumar’s brother Suresh Kumar, had also claimed earlier that the raids were politically motivated and that Rs 10 crore recovered during the raids does not belong to the minister.
On July 2, the I-T Department swooped on Shivakumar and conducted raids at his house and at a private resort (Eagleton) in Bengaluru, where several Congress MLAs from Gujarat were holed up.
The Congress has termed the raids a political witch-hunt by the BJP designed to defeat Congress candidate Ahmed Patel in the Rajya Sabha polls in Gujarat.