An executive engineer of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, Narayana Gowda Patil was allegedly given crores of rupees which has now been seized by the IT department. Narayana is absconding and police are on the lookout.
Bengaluru: Income Tax officials who have been keeping watch on financial transactions, especially on election campaigners for a while, have seized crores of rupees found in possession of executive engineer Narayana Gowda Patil, who is a close associate of Rahul Gandhi.
Narayana Gowda Patil was allegedly given crores of rupees by a contractor and the cash has now been seized from a hotel room in Bengaluru’s Anand Rao Circle.
The engineer belongs to the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department and allegedly took commissions ranging from 10% to 20% for grants of rural development projects and projects to aid the poor.
Rural Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda denied that he had any involvement in the matter. He also said that he would conduct an inquiry and obtain more details about the alleged scam
IT officials raided two places - Bengaluru and Haveri - simultaneously and recovered cash from both locations.
Rs 2 crore was recovered from the hotel room in Bengaluru while more than Rs 25 lakh was recovered from Haveri.
Narayana Gowda is absconding after he received information that raids were being conducted.
Officials however have arrested Gowda’s car driver.
Authorities are now probing the source of the money and its purpose.
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