CRPF in Bengaluru to carry out I-T raids, alleges HD Kumaraswamy

Raising fears about possible income tax raids on Congress-JD(S) functionaries, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Wednesday claimed CRPF personnel have been brought from various parts of the country to carry out I-T raids in Karnataka.

"I have got a specific information that some 200 to 300 CRPF sleuths have arrived from various parts of the country. They will be ferried from the airport to the city. They have been brought to Bengaluru from other states to carry out income tax raids in Karnataka," Kumaraswamy told reporters at Mandya.

He claimed that the raids may be carried out at 5 am on Thursday.

I-T officials were not immediately available for comment. Striking a belligerent note, Kumaraswamy warned the BJP-led NDA government that he would follow what his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee did if it tried to "bully" the Congress-JDS coalition partners.

Banerjee had staged a "Save the Constitution" dharna from February 3 to 5 at Kolkata after the CBI's failed bid to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with chit fund cases.

Kumaraswamy alleged that the Centre had resorted to politics of vengeance using the income tax officials as its agents.

Sending a stern message to income tax officials, he said, "I know the game income tax officials are playing at the final stage of election.

They should be cautious because if they think that they can function like the agents of a political party forever, they may end up repenting."

Kumaraswamy accused the income tax officials of being unfair. He said usually the taxmen take the help of state police while carrying out raids but this time they brought CRPF jawans from various parts of the country.

"Let us see from whom they will collect... I think the Congress and the JD(S) functionaries can be the target," the chief minister said.

Insisting that he never believed in politics of vengeance, Kumaraswamy said he never came in the way of Anti-Corruption Bureau sleuths to raid corrupt officials.

"If they (Centre) try to bully us, I will follow what Mamata Banerjee did," he added.

Alarmed by the disclosure, the Congress' Karnataka unit wanted to know whether I-T, Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation were the arms of the BJP-led Central government to win elections.

"Are the CBI, I-T and ED the election tools against the opposition parties? First time in the history of India (Prime Minister) Modi misused the autonomous institutions on large-scale.

People will teach a lesson to a failed Narendra Modi for his action against the leaders of the coalition government," the Congress tweeted.

Lok Sabha elections are being held in two phases in Karnataka on April 18 and 23.