I-T sleuths question Parameshwara for second time

Former deputy chief minister G Parameshwara was questioned by the Income Tax officials for the second time on Monday, in connection with the raids carried out on his residence and educational institutions recently.

Parameshwara was grilled for around two hours, during which officials sought details on the finances of Siddharth Group of Institutions.

Speaking to reporters, Parameshwara said that Income Tax officials had raided his group of institutions and collected several documents. “The officials had asked me to answer some questions regarding the documents collected (during the raid),” he said. Though I-T sleuths questioned Parameshwara - trustee for the group of institutions - regarding its accounts, he said that auditors of the Institution would appear and respond to their queries.

Properties owned by Parameshwara and Congress leader J Rajendra were raided by I-T officials on October 10. Two days after the raid, Parameshwara’s personal assistant N S Ramesh committed suicide after being allegedly questioned by I-T sleuths.

Following the raids, officials seized cash in excess of Rs four crore. Parameshwara appeared before Income Tax officials for the first time on October 15. The raids, apart from tax evasion, were linked with the multi-crore seat-blocking scam.

During the raids, officials had also found evidence of alleged benami bank accounts where crores of money was deposited. Some of these accounts were in the name of employees of Siddharath Group of Institutions and officials are also expected to question them during the course of investigation.

It can be recalled that I-T department had drawn flak from Opposition parties following the suicide of Ramesh, as they accused the department of harassing people to extract a statement. However, I-T department had maintained that all raids were being carried out as per law and dismissed allegations of harassment.