CRPF was used during I-T raids in TN, Bengal too, say officials

Income Tax officials called in central forces to accompany them to conduct raids in Karnataka because of previous instances where they had been subjected to “intimidation and attacks,” top officials said.

“We have had instances where the I-T raid parties have been subjected to physical attacks and intimidation to abandon their operation and even cases filed against them by some local people,” an official said. Deployment of central forces to provide security to I-T officials during search operations in Karnataka was not the first instance. It had been done in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu too last year when raids were conducted on “powerful people” close to ruling dispensation, he said.

Normally, the I-T authorities take the help of local police. But, if the situation “warranted”, they are authorised to requisition central forces which would not be involved in any raid as such but will provide security for the search team. “Public servants, who work for the government of India, can seek security from the central forces for discharge of their public duty,” another official said.

“Whenever any officer conducts searches and he or she thinks that the local police are not available in sufficient number or should not be involved, they can always request Central forces,” said the official.

Just as Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has protested the deployment of central forces during the I-T raids on Energy Minister D K Shivakumar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee too had objected to the use of CRPF during raids on her party leaders last year.

There were protests from the AIADMK leaders when  a team of I-T officials searched the residences of former Tamil Nadu chief secretary P Rama Mohan Rao and those close to the ruling party in Chennai last December.

As in the case of Karnataka, the Centre wanted to ensure “utmost secrecy” for the I-T operations in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal where the state governments were in the dark till the raids happened.