Confident Group Chairman CJ Roy’s death, allegedly due to suicide, during an Income Tax raid has triggered strong reactions from Karnataka’s political leadership. Ministers including Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivkumar have demanded answers alleging systemic harassment by central agencies. They also promised a high-level probe into the incident.
Roy, founder and chairman of the Dubai-based Confident Group, was in Bengaluru on a business visit when I-T officials launched raids on the Group’s offices. The searches began on Wednesday and continued into Friday. Roy arrived at the Langford Town office on Friday afternoon and it was while the raid was still under way that he allegedly shot himself.
Karnataka IT minister Priyank Kharge accused the Union government of misusing the Income-Tax Department, Enforcement Directorate and GST authorities to target individuals and businesses not aligned with it. “This is nothing but harassment by Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate officials, and it is happening across the country,” he said. “The I-T, ED and GST departments are being used to harass SMEs, MSMEs, individuals and industrialists who do not align with the government.
Kharge added that the issue was not merely political, noting that Roy’s family had also raised similar concerns. “These agencies have been turned into tools of harassment. People earning their livelihood legally are being subjected to such pressure. Whatever the case may be, we will investigate it.” he said.
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said preliminary information indicated that Roy died after being questioned by Income-Tax personnel. “When they (IT officials) were asking him a lot of questions, he is said to have asked for five minutes of time, gone inside, and did this (shot himself),” he told reporters. “So we will do a high-level investigation and bring out the truth. We have learnt that a team from Kerala came here and the investigation will reveal further details. This shouldn’t have happened, he was a good businessman. We have also been asked for a report from Delhi. Our government will let the people know the truth after doing a detailed investigation.”
Earlier, Home Minister G Parameshwara said Roy’s company was raided by the Income-Tax Department in December 2025 and given 60 days to file a chargesheet, with the deadline set for February 4. Roy had returned from Dubai three days ago and cooperated with officials who visited his office to record his statement, he said.