Taxmen probe DKS' drivers, cooks in Delhi to unravel his money trail

Drivers and cooks have long held secrets of the masters they serve. And, Income Tax sleuths know that the key to unravelling Karnataka Energy Minister D K Shivakumar’s alleged money trail and investments are his drivers, assistants and cooks.

The tax sleuths, who have been raiding the residences of Shivakumar in Delhi since Wednesday morning, continued to grill Anjaneya, a clerk working in Karnataka Bhavan, Bangalore Rural MP and minister’s younger brother D K Suresh’s personal assistant Jacob and their cooks and drivers. Anjaneya is from Bengaluru and has been assisting the minister for the past several years during his Delhi visits.

Other than trying to find clues on Shivakumar’s suspected investments in real estate and other businesses, the I-T officials tried to find out where Shivakumar used to go when he was in Delhi and who had called on him.

An official from the I-T department said that they were going through the huge piles of documents on his investments and correspondence to find out any illegality. They have also come across a cheque carrying a figure that runs into more than a crore which is also being examined with extra vigil.

Tax officials completed the searches at his two flats in upmarket Safdarjung Enclave here on Thursday evening. With the recovery of huge cash from his two Safdarjung Enclave houses, the I-T officials wanted to know from Anjaneya whether he was aware  where the money came from.

The taxmen did not allow the family members of Anjaneya to venture out of their house at Karnataka Government Employees’ Residential Quarters at Sector 6 of R K Puram since Wednesday morning when the raids started, sources said. Anjaneya’s wife and two school-going children were even barred from either receiving or making phone calls.

The officials are said to have taken Anjaneya to undisclosed locations in the national capital, apparently to explore Shivakumar’s contacts.