I-T raids premises of former external affairs minister SM Krishna’s son-in-law

Outside V G Siddartha’s office in Bengaluru Thursday. PTI

Income tax authorities on Thursday conducted searches at 25 premises linked to businessman V G Siddhartha, son-in-law of former external affairs minister S M Krishna. The searches were conducted in Bengaluru, Hassan, Chikmagalur, Chennai and Mumbai, I-T department sources said. Offices of Coffee Day Enterprises, which runs the Cafe Coffee Day chain, Amalgamated Bean Company, Serai Resorts head office, Global Village Tech Park, financial firm Way to Wealth and Sital Logistics, which are linked to Siddhartha, were searched, sources said. Residences of the businessman were also searched.

Krishna, a former Karnataka CM, left the Congress and joined the BJP earlier this year. Some Congress leaders claimed this was an attempt to protect his son-in-law’s businesses from being targeted by tax and other authorities.

Last month, tax authorities searched premises of Karnataka minister D K Shivakumar, a protege of Krishna, and claimed to have unearthed undisclosed income to the tune of Rs 300 crore. In the searches conducted Thursday, the I-T department also scrutinised an aide of Shivakumar with links to Siddhartha, said sources.

“Income tax officials have visited our premises. Coffee Day Enterprises is a responsible corporate following all norms of corporate governance. We continue to comply with the laws of the land and will extend all cooperation with the concerned authority,’’ Coffee Day Enterprises said in a statement following the I-T searches.