I-T Dept arrests K’taka JD(S) leader for alleged tax evasion of Rs 5.4 crore

Tax Evasion

R Prabhakar Reddy is no stranger to controversies. He was recently arrested by the Central Crime Branch in connection with land grabbing cases.

TNM Staff

JD(S) leader R Prabhakar Reddy, who has contested both Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, was arrested on Wednesday in Bengaluru for allegedly evading taxes, sources said. He was later sent to the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in the city. He had recently contested 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Bengaluru Rural seat.  The politician is no stranger to controversies. He was recently arrested by the Central Crime Branch in connection with land grabbing cases. Police in 2016 too, had registered as many as 22 FIRs against him related to forgery, fraud and criminal conspiracy. More recently, he had also allegedly threatened another real estate builder Babu Reddy by barging into his Bannerghatta Road residence in mid-2018.  Incidentally, the Income Tax Department in a release said that it has made its third arrest in recent days without mentioning the name of the accused.  The release read, “A prominent taxpayer who is well known in the city and had once contested State Assembly and Parliament elections for a prominent political party was arrested today for default in paying taxes. A search and seizure operation was conducted in the case of the tax defaulter. The tax defaulter has contested in Vidhan Sabha Elections of Karnataka twice and also contested in Lok Sabha Elections.” The release added, “The tax defaulter had not paid taxes or filed return of income as per time allowed under Income Tax Act, 1961. The tax defaulter after the search and seizure operation admitted income in view of the evidences unearthed during the search proceedings. The total taxes payable by the tax defaulter was determined at Rs. 5.40 crore. The tax defaulter did not pay these taxes. He has not even paid the taxes on the income admitted voluntarily in the return filed after search and seizure operations. Various attempts were made by the Department by means of issue of notices and recovery proceedings and all other means.”  The statement also said that IT sleuths found that the tax defaulter was involved in various real estate transactions but did not use funds generated out of real estate business to pay tax and also it was noticed that the tax defaulter had not filed returns of income for subsequent years even though he had taxable income.  He will be prosecuted by the Economic Offences Court, I-T Department said.

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Judge strikes down Medicaid work rules in Arkansas, Kentucky

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With assets worth Rs 338 crore, DK Suresh’s wealth quadrupled in 5 yrs

Lok Sabha 2019

Suresh also listed Rs 21,38,000 seized by the IT Department from his residence in Delhi as part of his assets

Soumya Chatterjee

DK Suresh, the incumbent MP from Bengaluru Rural constituency is seeking to be reelected for the second time. The assets of the incumbent MP and brother of Water Resource Minister DK Shivakumar, has grown close to four times in the last five years. While his assets were valued over Rs 85 crore in 2014, his affidavit for the upcoming elections states that his wealth is now approximately Rs 338 crore. The valuation increase can be partially attributed to seven new properties he has acquired in these five years. Businessman and social worker Suresh, has earned Rs 1,87,81,090 in the financial year ending March 2018. His incomes for the previous four financial years have fluctuated from just above Rs 5 lakh to little over Rs 1 crore, with the average being little over Rs 28 lakh. He has mentioned salary, capital gains, agricultural income and bank interest as his source of income. In his affidavit, he mentioned the total value of the acquired property including one house worth Rs 15 crore gifted by her mother is Rs 23 crores. He also said, “It may please be noted that the guideline value of all the properties have been revised 4 times in the last 5 years and as such the net asset value has increased.” However, since 2014 till now, Suresh does not own any vehicle or jewellery, according to his declaration. But his dependent Keshin Suresh owns a Hyundai Creta car valued at Rs 14,80, 865 and jewellery valued at Rs 8,30,000. Asset details Including cash in hand of little over Rs 22 lakh, the gross total value of his moveable assets are Rs 33,06,68,208 (Rs 33 crore+) while the same for his dependent is Rs 23,35,582.62 (Rs 23 lakh+). These include seven bank accounts having a total of over Rs 3 crore 23 lakh. He also owns shares of 14 companies, all valued at little over Rs 2 crore including those in Indian Overseas Bank, Andhra Bank, Suvi Granite, Indian Rock Capital among others. He has also listed Rs 21,38,000 seized by the IT Department from his residence in Delhi as a receivable amount.   In moveable assets, he owns 20 parcels of agricultural land costing little over Rs 25 crore. He also owns 28 parcels of non-agricultural land costing over Rs 248 crore. The total value of the seven commercial buildings is Rs 35 crore while the value of his residential properties is Rs 16 crore. Criminal cases Suresh is facing five criminal proceedings against him which are all involving illegal forest land usage. He has been booked for quarrying in reserved forest land in four cases while in another he has been accused of erecting electrical line in a reserved forest area. Charges have not been framed in any of the cases.

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Coffee estate case: Chikkamagaluru court issues warrant for Kichcha Sudeep's arrest

Crime

Kichcha Sudeep has not appeared for any hearing so far. The court has now issued a non-bailable warrant for his arrest.

TNM Staff

The Chikkamagaluru JMFC court on Tuesday issued a non-bailable warrant for the arrest of Sandalwood actor Kichcha Sudeep and director of Kannada TV show Vaarasadara, Mahesh. Deepak Patel, a resident and owner of a coffee plantation in Chikkamagaluru had petitioned the court alleging that Sudeep and Mahesh had cheated him of Rs 1.5 crore after damaging his ancestral property for the shooting of Vaarasadara. According to Deepak’s legal counsel, Sudeep’s lawyer had petitioned the court to get another day’s time for Sudeep to appear for questioning. “He has not appeared for any hearing so far. The court was not happy about it and issued a summons for questioning him. It also issued a non-bailable warrant for his arrest. The court has given the police time till May 22 to produce Sudeep and Mahesh before it. So far, no arrest has been made,” Deepak’s lawyer Suresh said. Deepak Mayur Patel, the coffee estate owner, alleged that Sudeep’s production house – Kichcha Creations – owes him Rs 1.5 crore for destroying the plantation in the course of a shoot. In 2016, Kichcha Creations had rented the estate belonging to Deepak Mayur to shoot the television show Vaarasadara. According to Deepak, Kichcha Creations had sought permission from him to shoot the TV series in his estate, to which he had agreed. An initial payment of Rs 50,000 was made, followed by another payment of Rs 1.8 lakh when the shooting was wrapped up last year. Suresh says that the Vaarasadara team was supposed to shoot only inside Deepak’s house in the coffee estate, and that the agreement did not include the team disrupting the activities of the coffee plantation. However, after the shooting got over, Deepak was left with destroyed coffee plants and several old trees were also destroyed, Suresh alleges. “They also built a separate structure inside the estate to house their workers for the shoot,” he said. In June 2017, Deepak had approached the then Chikkamagaluru SP Annamalai, and had filed a complaint alleging cheating by the production house and the director of the TV show. The SP had advised Deepak to take up the matter in court as it was a civil dispute. Subsequently, Deepak had petitioned the district court in Chikkamagaluru in that very month. Read: Kichcha Sudeep, ‘Varasdara’ crew, destroyed my coffee estate, claims owner    

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1 constituency, 3 Sumalathas: Did JD(S) get namesakes to file nominations in Mandya?

Lok Sabha 2019

Mandya is the constituency where JD(S) chief Deve Gowda’s grandson, Nikhil Gowda, is making his political debut.

TNM Staff

On Tuesday, the last day for filing nominations for the Mandya segment, three women filed to contest as independents. The catch – all three of them are named Sumalatha. Sumalatha from Krishnarajpete, Sumalatha P from Kanakapura, and M Sumalatha from Srirangapattana, are hoping to contest from the constituency where a star candidate – Sumalatha Ambareesh – is hoping to win as an independent, with the backing of Congress and BJP cadre. Mandya is the constituency where JD(S) chief Deve Gowda’s grandson, Nikhil Gowda, is making his political debut. And Sumalatha Ambareesh believes that three more Sumalathas filing their nominations at the last minute is nothing but a political ploy by her rivals. “This was a very cunning move. They [JD(S)] think that by doing this, they will win. I have learnt that one of the [other Sumalathas] has withdrawn her nomination already,” she added. Sources in the JD(S) say that a few leaders in the party had instructed the cadre in the region to find women named Sumalatha and ensure that they filed nominations on the last day. While fielding independents bearing the same name as rivals is not a new move in Indian politics, the fact that Sumalatha Ambareesh is fighting as an independent without a well known symbol might come as a drawback for her. “Sumalatha is contesting as an independent and she does not have a symbol which people can identify with. If there are more Sumalathas, then it will confuse the voters. This kind of tactic is not uncommon in politics, especially when the fight is tough,” the JD(S) source added. Sumalatha Ambareesh, wife of former Congress MLA and legendary actor Ambareesh has a huge following in Mandya. She decided to contest as an independent as the Congress party refused to offer here a ticket due to the pre-poll alliance with the JD(S). Banking on the sympathy factor after the demise of her husband Ambareesh in November 2018, Sumalatha has also amassed support from rebel Congress leaders and party workers. The BJP, too, has not nominated any candidate and has decided to back Sumalatha in the region instead. With support coming in from various groups, the JD(S) is now in a tricky spot, especially since Sumalatha is up against Deve Gowda’s grandson Nikhil Gowda.   “If Nikhil Gowda loses in Mandya, it would mean that the JD(S) will not have any presence in the region. Mandya is a JD(S) fortress. Kumaraswamy will pull out all the stops to ensure that his son wins,” the JD(S) source said.    

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Bengaluru businessman dies in accident during test drive of luxury SUV

Accident

According to the police, the car was being driven in very high speed before it hit the divider, flipped in the air before landing in a 10-metre deep ditch.

Soumya Chatterjee

The dream of owning a luxury car ended in tragedy for a 31-year-old Bengaluru-based businessman and his family. On Tuesday afternoon, Sagar J Rao had gone to test drive a Range Rover Evoque car from a Roopena Agrahara showroom during which the car met with a terrible accident. The incident took place at the Nayandhalli toll gate on Nice Road. Nice Road, a private tolled road, is one of the most accident-prone zones in the city. According to the police, the car was travelling at a very high speed and hit the divider in the middle of the road. The car then toppled over and landing in a 10-metre deep ditch. Sagar died on the way to the hospital while his wife Sandhya (28) has injured her spine. Others present in the car - their son Samarth (6), their family friend and Sagar’s business partner Goutham (30), as well as the representative from the car company, Shivakumar, were also injured in the accident. “We have been told by Mr Shivakumar that Mr Goutham was driving the car, not Mr Sagar. Going by the initial impact on the vehicle, it seems that it was a case of overspeeding. The injured are still getting treatment,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Bengaluru Traffic West Soumyalatha SK told TNM. “We are investigating and obviously we will book the accused as per law in due course of time,” she added. The condition of the injured people is stable. All of them are being treated in private hospitals. Sagar’s body was taken to Victoria Hospital for post mortem and has been kept at the BGS Hospital mortuary. Police have are yet to record an official statement as all those present in the car are in a state of shock. A case has been registered at Byatarayanapura Traffic Police Station. Police sources say that the airbag and the seatbelts saved the passengers sitting in the front from serious injuries. The car costs over Rs 50 lakh and can accelerate from 0-100 km per hour in 8.5 seconds, according to automobile reviews.

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