I-T notice to minister Puttaraju’s son

The Income Tax department on Thursday issued a notice to Minister C S Puttaraju’s son Shivu, summoning the latter for questioning on April 25.

A 15-member team comprising I-T and election officials, searched the house of Shivu Puttaraju at Sankalp Apartments at Brindavan Layout in the city at 1 pm on Thursday. The officials searched the house for four hours. Only Shivu’s chef was present in the house. The officials have served a notice on Shivu, asking him to be present at the office for questioning on April 25.

Shivu learnt about the raids from the security guards of the apartment. He told reporters, “The JD(S) candidate will get an additional 25,000 to 50,000 votes for every I-T raid. The officials, like in previous raids, have returned empty-handed this time too.” He added, the I-T raids on JD(S) leaders and followers are politically motivated and the BJP is misusing the agency to help Sumalatha Ambareesh, backed by the saffron party, win elections in Mandya.