Hours ahead of Assembly session, IT dept raids Parameshwar's residence

New Delhi: The Income Tax (I-T) Department on Thursday conducted raids at premises linked to former deputy chief minister G Parameshwara and others in connection with a multi-crore tax evasion case linked to the NEET exams, officials said.

A total of 30 premises are being covered in the raids and a team of around 80 I-T officials, apart from police personnel, are undertaking the searches at various locations in the state and some places in Rajasthan, they said.

The department took the action as part of its probe to check alleged irregularities in the conduct of NEET exams in two medical colleges run by a trust in Tumkur city.

Parameshwara is stated to be the chairman of the trust identified as Shri Siddhartha education trust.

A case of alleged forgery in the NEET exam by impersonation and alleged illegal payments made to secure seats is the trigger of the I-T action, they said.

Notably, the raids came hours ahead of the 3-day Karnataka Assembly session.

Speaking to media persons, Parameshwara claimed to have no knowledge of the raids adding that he had no issue with the search. “Let them search I have no issue. If there is any fault from our side, we will rectify it,” he told reporters.

Reacting to the raid Siddaramaiah in a tweet said:

“The series of IT raids on @DrParameshwara, RL Jalappa & others, are politically motivated with malafide intention. They are only targeting @INCKarnataka leaders as they have failed to face us on policy & corruption issues.

We won’t budge to any such tactics!!”