Income Tax Department sleuths on Thursday conducted searches on the business and residential premises of businessman and realtor B.M. Farooq in Mangaluru and Bengaluru over alleged undisclosed income.
Mr. Farooq, incidentally, had unsuccessfully contested for a Rajya Sabha seat on a JD(S) ticket last year.
Sources said that Mr. Farooq, whose business interest spans across power, logistics and shipping, and real estate among others, has his stakes in at least eight firms.
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The search and seizure by the investigation wing in Mangaluru were mainly connected to Mr. Farooq’s transactions with Hyderabad-based Greenko Group, officials said.
Sources in the department told The Hindu that they were looking into the deals involving Greenko, which is into hydro power projects. Greenko’s subsidiary AMR Power Private Ltd. built and operates the 24.8 MW run-of-river hydropower project on the banks of the Netravati in Bantwal taluk in the district. Since the company had several transactions with Mr. Farooq, it was subjected to search and inspection.
The searches also covered some of Mr. Farooq’s associates, including directors in the companies where he has business interests in, sources said, adding that the searches are expected to continue even on Friday.
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Sources said the teams from Bengaluru and Mangaluru were coordinating with the search operations.