Bengaluru: The Directorate of Income Tax (Investigation), Karnataka and Goa, which is scrutinising the amount of money that former BJP minister Gali Janardhan Reddy spent on his daughter Brahmani’s lavish wedding in November last year and the source of the money, is likely to question the suspended KAS officer Bheema Nayak, who was arrested last month and is now in judicial custody.
Mr Nayak was arrested after his driver Ramesh K.C. committed suicide leaving a note behind, alleging that Mr Nayak had laundered Rs 100 crore for Mr Reddy for his daughter’s wedding. Ramesh’s suicide and the allegations in his death note are being investigated by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
Sources said that Mr Reddy had reportedly estimated his daughter’s wedding expenditure between Rs 15 and Rs 20 crore, but the figures could be highly “deflated”, said an official source. “The amount spent for the wedding was much higher than what he has estimated,” said an official source. He added that the tax sleuths will interrogate Mr Nayak after obtaining court permission. The suspended officer is currently lodged in Mandya jail.
Four days after the ostentatious wedding on Palace Grounds, the Directorate had issued Mr Reddy a three-page notice with 15 questions under Section 135 A (5) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and directed Mr Reddy to reply before November 25 on the details of the wedding expenses and the source of the money.
The income tax sleuths had also conducted search and seizure operations at the offices of Obulapuram Mining Company and Associated Mining Company, both owned by Mr Reddy in his home district Ballari, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. They had taken statements from those who had provided various services for the wedding.
