Taxmen search Krishnappa’s house, find Rs. 2.5 cr. in cash

As candidate, he had declared a fraction of that as cash-in-hand

A. Krishnappa

Less than a fortnight ago, A. Krishnappa, the former Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) candidate from Hiriyur Assembly constituency in Chitradurga district, had declared his “cash-in-hand” as Rs. 8.93 lakh and that of his wife as Rs. 2.9 lakh. On Thursday morning, the Income Tax Department officials, who swooped down on his home in K.R. Puram, recovered close to Rs. 2.5 crore.

The search on the residence, on Devasandra Main Road, yielded the huge sum that has not been accounted for, sources said. Besides money, documents have also been seized.

Education trust

Mr. Krishnappa, also the chairperson of South East Asian Education Trust that runs colleges offering professional courses among others, joined JD (S) less than a month ago. A four-time legislator from the erstwhile Varthur Assembly constituency, he quit Congress — a party with which he was associated for nearly three decades — after it denied him ticket to contest from K.R. Puram.

Sources said his wife Manjula was at home when the search team, led by Deputy Director (Investigations) Pradeep Arya, turned up. The statement of the 68-year-old politician, who is away campaigning in Hiriyur, will be recorded, and a team could be sent for this purpose there.

Assets declared

Incidentally, in the affidavit filed before the Election Commission on April 18 (while filing his nominations), Mr. Krishnappa, also a former Indian Telephone Industries employee, has declared the total assets of his and his family to be Rs. 54.49 crore.

He had shown his income as Rs. 4.21 crore during 2011-2012 and his wife, a homemaker, as Rs. 10.38 lakh. His Hindu Undivided Family income was declared as Rs. 10.13 lakh.

Though Mr. Krishnappa was unavailable for comment, an aide said he was expected to be in Bangalore on Friday.

CEO’s reaction

Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer Anil Kumar Jha told The Hindu he would seek the report from the Income Tax Department and the Bangalore police. “We will try to find out if there is any possible election-related nexus in the seizure of money.”

When contacted, a JD(S) spokesperson said: “The Congress is desperate seeing the progress of the JD(S) in Karnataka and is misusing power by conducting raids against OBC leaders like Mr. Krishnappa. The people will teach them a lesson on May 5.”