IT raids have revealed that a Karnataka minister and Congress leaders at Gokak and Belgaum city have deposited large amounts of unexplained cash in benami accounts in primary cooperative banks, reports New Indian Express.
Both Ramesh Jharkhiholi, Karnataka’s Small Scale Industries Minister and a close associate of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, and state Mahila Congress president Lakshmi Hebbalkar, are under the scanner after the raids allegedly unearthed undisclosed income to the tune of Rs 162 crore.
Ramesh Jharkhiholi, eldest of the five Jharkhiholi brothers, has a huge sway in the district. All recent state governments — by the Congress, BJP or the JDS — have inevitably had one of the brothers in the Cabinet.