The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday concluded the search and seizure operation at various properties belonging to Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President DK Shivakumar 13 hours after it began. At 6 am on Monday CBI sleuths simultaneously searched 14 properties belonging to Shivakumar and his brother, Bengaluru Rural MP DK Suresh.
The CBI also registered an FIR against Shivakumar. Speaking to the media after the search concluded, Shivakumar said, “I want to ask the CM one thing. You have given permission to the CBI to conduct a probe. So why was the FIR registered on September 30? Why could they not do it before? Why did they do it after I announced my plans to protest?” DK Shivakumar said, while referring to the announcement that he would spearhead the protest in Bengaluru in connection with the Hathras rape case.
He said that the CBI found Rs 1.47 lakh at his residences and nothing more. He said that the reports that a huge amount of cash was found was false. When asked about the CBI’s statement about the allegation of disproportionate assets, he said, “Let them hang me then. The property value has increased since I purchased it. They are asking market value. CBI has given a check period from 2013 and 2018. Let them investigate. I don’t mind. I am a law-abiding citizen.”
He said that he would fully cooperate with the CBI’s probe and maintained that the searches were politically motivated. “Before these IT raids, was there any criminal case against me in my political life? Have I ever been involved in any corruption case before? Especially when I was the Cooperation Minister, Energy Minister and Water Resource Minister? No. You have turned over all the documents now and what have you found? Go ahead and investigate,” he added.
Shivakumar challenged Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and said that he would not be mowed down by intimidation tactics. He questioned Yediyurappa and indicated that the cases against him were pre-planned. “Chief Minister, tell me one thing. Have you planned how many times I have to be investigated and how many times I have to go to jail?” he said.
He said that his friends and family have been harassed for the last few years due to the “politically-motivated cases” against him. “Is DK Shivakumar the only person you found? If you think you can silence me, you are dreaming. I am strong, I have my people, my national leaders and until they are with me, I will not be mowed down by this intimidation. This is purely politics and if you want to indulge in politics, let’s go talk to the voters,” he added.
After the search concluded, the CBI said that an FIR was registered against Shivakumar stating that he was allegedly in possession of disproportionate assets worth Rs 74.93 crore in his name and in the name of his family members. The CBI registered the FIR on October 2.
In September 2019, the Karnataka government had granted permission to the CBI to launch a probe against Shivakumar. Subsequently, the Union government too had granted permission after which the CBI began its probe in March 2020 against Shivakumar and his associates.
“Searches were conducted today at 14 locations including Karnataka, Delhi, Mumbai at the premises of said MLA (DK Shivakumar) and others which led to recovery of cash of Rs 57 lakh and several incriminating documents including property documents, bank related information, computer hard disk etc. Investigation is continuing,” the CBI said in a statement.
The CBI launched a probe against Shivakumar after the Enforcement Directorate shared information related to his finances with the agency. The ED is probing the money laundering case against Shivakumar. The ED had arrested him in September 2019 and he was in Tihar Jail for 51 days before the Delhi High Court granted him bail.
The ED had accused Shivakumar of laundering black money through various proxies including his family members and close associates.