Karnataka: ED searches continue at Satish Jarkiholis residence in Belagavi for second day

The searches continued till late last night, with the investigation reportedly intensifying in connection with alleged illegal foreign investment.

The searches were conducted at Satish Jarkiholis residence in Gokak city, where his wife and daughter, MP Priyanka Jarkiholi, were present.

The ED officials also searched the residence of Jarkiholis family member Y Manjunath in Belagavi and the house of Girish Sonawalkar, who is said to be a close associate of the minister.

The residence of Satish Jarkiholis private secretary Malagouda Patil was also searched as part of the ongoing investigation.

Earlier, Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), dismissing the ED searches targeting Jarkiholi as "politically motivated", and accused the BJP of misusing the agencies.

Addressing the media on the coordinated central agency action raiding multiple locations, Shivakumar asserted that the state leadership is unfazed by the developments.

The ED raids against him are not something we are unaware of. ED raids have been conducted in the past as well. He is a senior minister and is involved in business and commercial activities. He has also undertaken some social service activities," the CM said.

Further, Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge also alleged that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids were politically motivated and claimed that most such raids in recent years had targeted Opposition leaders.

The ED raids are politically motivated. In the last six years, 196 raids have been conducted, but only two cases have resulted in convictions. As many as 97% of the raids have been against Opposition leaders, Kharge said.

They want to conduct the next election with CBI, IT, and ED, not with the BJP leaders. These are raids sponsored by the Central Government; these agencies are nothing but parrots being controlled by their masters," he added. (ANI)