Bengaluru: The contractor-official-politician nexus and their dealings caught the attention of Income Tax (I-T) officials who led yesterday’s simultaneous and coordinated raids. Certain tenders awarded in Mandya, Hassan and Ramanagaram in the last few months and technical approvals given to projects in the Irrigation and Public Works Departments are said to have come under the I-T scanner.
Highly placed sources said that it was not an operation conducted in a jiffy but a meticulous raid that was planned months ahead when the Government tenders were approved and money sanctioned. Crores of rupees were sanctioned to those projects that were still in nascent stage and work tenders were floated. The hurried manner in which money was sanctioned by officers to contractors raised suspicion in the I-T Department that later planned the raid, sources said.
