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Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge on Saturday alleged that central investigative agencies, including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Income Tax Department and Enforcement Directorate (ED), were being used by the Centre to target opposition leaders and termed the recent ED raids linked to Karnataka PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi and his family as politically motivated.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Kharge alleged that the agencies were acting at the direction of the central government and questioned the number of raids conducted by them in recent years compared to convictions. "CBI, IT, ED are all caged parrots. They are puppets of the central govt. The central government directs these agencies to torture opposition leaders. It's very clear: 196 raids in the last few years, two convictions, and 98% of all the raids are on opposition leaders. It's extremely evident that this is nothing but politically motivated. They are unable to prove... just releasing a press note doesn't make things factually correct...," Kharge said. He further questioned the reliance on press notes issued by the Enforcement Directorate in establishing allegations against political leaders and asked the agency to present evidence in the public domain. How many press notes have been issued? 196 press notes have been issued. How many convictions have there been? Two. So what? Kharge said. Questioning whether his colleague was being declared guilty merely on the basis of a press note, Kharge said that the agency should place the facts and evidence before the public. So, are you declaring my colleague guilty based on a press note? In that case, I will issue a press note today. Will you accept that he is innocent? Kharge asked. The Karnataka Minister called for the facts and evidence related to the case to be made public, saying the matter could then be discussed during the Assembly session. Present the facts, make them public, and we will debate the matter. The Assembly session will continue for three days. Lay whatever evidence you have on the table so that it can be discussed publicly, he said. Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted searches at the residences of Karnataka PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi and his daughter, Lok Sabha MP Priyanka Jarkiholi. The agency also conducted searches at the residence of the ministers brother-in-law, Y Manjunath, among 18 locations linked to the case. According to the agency, the case is not related to the alleged excise case against Manjunath but is a separate alleged money laundering case against Satish Jarkiholi. The agency began its operation based on certain inputs and conducted searches in close coordination with security forces. The searches covered the premises of suspects linked to the case being investigated under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. (ANI)
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