DKS bros catch probe agency off-guard, again

The DKS brothers have yet again caught a central investigating agency off-guard. The Saturday morning press conference by Bengaluru Rural Parliamentarian D K Suresh, apprehending Enforcement Directorate (ED) action against him and his brother, was the second preempting in two months.

In June, D K Suresh and his brother D K Shivakumar, Water Resources and Medical Education Minister, held an early morning press conference apprehending a CBI swoop down on them. Later, it turned out to be a bank fraud case that CBI had registered in April 2017 after the demonetisation. Hours later, CBI searched five premises, including some persons linked to Shivakumar and clarified that no search warrants were obtained against Shivakumar and his brother.

The case referred to by D K Suresh on Saturday pertains to the seizure of Rs 8.5 crore cash from four premises in New Delhi during the August 2017 Income Tax raids.

Sources in the Income Tax Department confirmed this saying the documents pertaining to the fourth complaint filed before the special court for Economic Offences against D K Shivakumar and others were shared with the Enforcement Directorate (ED). However, the ED
officials remained tight-lipped about the case. Sources said as the IT claimed that Shivakumar had been engaging in the transportation of unaccounted cash through hawala channels, ED has launched an enquiry under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The Income Tax Department in its fourth complaint (prosecution case) stated that Rs 8.5 crore cash seized from apartments and offices in New Delhi was directly related to Shivakumar. The special court for Economic Offences had taken cognizance of the complaint and had summoned Shivakumar, his business associate Sachin Narayan, Sunil Kumar
Sharma, proprietor of Sharma Travels, Shivakumar’s liaison officer in New Delhi Anjaneya Hanumanthaiah and a retired government servant Rajendra, who presently works for Sunil Kumar Sharma.

The I-T complaint claimed that Shivakumar, along with his associates Sachin Narayan and Sunil Kumar Sharma, bought flats in Delhi and used them to store unaccounted cash.