Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, responding to allegations of ED raids against Congress MLA B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan were “politically motivated”, said he was “neither an I-T officer nor an ED officer to know the reason for the raids” and denied any political interference. These are independent agencies carrying out their routine work. “These agencies won’t raid everyone. They raid only those whose dealings are suspect. Moreover, the raid is not final. The case will go to the courts where the agencies need to justify the case and the person gets a chance to defend himself,” he said.
Senior Minister J.C. Madhuswamy came down heavily on Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah for defending Mr. Khan. “Mr. Khan has many businesses and such search operations are common when agencies suspect some irregularities. He need not fear if his house is in order. To paint that as politically motivated is wrong. The Congress used to misuse the agencies when in power and seems to be thinking the same is happening now,” he said.
Meanwhile, BJP Karnataka took to Twitter and asked Mr. Siddaramaiah and State Congress chief D.K. Shivakumar whether defending the accused in the IMA scam, in which thousands of small-time investors were cheated, was not a move against minority interests.
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