I-T dept officials quiz Home Minister's advisor for 3 hours

Advisor to the Home Minister, former IPS officer Kempaiah appeared before the Income Tax officials on Wednesday in connection with an investigation related to the raids on certain politicians conducted in March this year.

The I-T officials reportedly questioned Kempaiah for over three hours in the evening.
The I-T department had raided the houses and offices of three MLCs – C R Manohar (JD-S), D U Mallikarjuna (Independent) and Govindaraju (Congress) - in the second week of March. The raids were in connection with the real estate businesses of the three MLCs in and around Bengaluru.

Sources said that from the documents seized from Govindaraju, a close associate of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and also one of his parliamentary secretaries, there were references and monetary links to Kempaiah.

The I-T department issued a notice to Kempaiah seeking an explanation on the entries in the diaries found during the searches. The I-T officers had searched the residence of Govindaraju in Domlur and other premises.

After giving his statement, Kempaiah lashed out at the TV cameramen waiting for him outside the I-T office on Infantry Road. He was apparently upset over some media reports. Speaking to the media, Kempaiah said he had received an I-T notice in connection with the ongoing investigation. “The department had issued a notice to me seeking to give a statement on the searches at somebody’s residence. I have given my statement stating that I have nothing to do with the documents recovered during the searches,” Kempaiah said.