Continuing into the second day of the raids by the Income tax (I-T) department officials on  Karnataka Energy Minister D K Shivakumar , the IT officials remained tight lipped on the seizures made  at the residence and offices of the Congress leader . While the Income Tax sleuths carried out raids on Thursday at least two companies in Gandhi Nagar in Bengaluru associated with the energy minister D.K. Shivakumar. What came after a lot of speculation in the media was the startling revelation by D K Shivakumar’s brother D.K. Suresh , who said “No cash has been seized from the residence and office of D K Shivakumar”. While the regional and the national media whole day on Thursday speculated about recoveries of huge amount of cash and jewelry, the speculation came to an end when Shivakumar’s office released pics of the declaration of seizures of the IT department.

Suresh, a member of Parliament also said that the I-T department had visited the minister’s family home in Doddakanahalli, relatives’ homes in Bengaluru and Mysuru for the second time on Thursday. “The I-T department have issued a notice and summoned us on a particular date,” Suresh said.

The raids on people close to Shivakumar triggered a political backlash with the Congress party accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led-centre of targeting political opponents by misusing official investigating agencies. Over 300 Congress leaders and workers gathered at the party offices raising slogans against the Centre.

Chief Secretary Subhash Khuntia, shot off a letter to the center protesting against the use of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) by the IT department.

It may be recalled that The I-T department which had raided Shivakumar’s Bengaluru home on Wednesday with paramilitary personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) guarding the gates and had kept the state police out of the loop.

Shivakumar, born in the dominant Vokkaliga community, started his political career by contesting unsuccessfully against former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda in 1985. He again contested and won from the same seat in 1989 and has grown to be one of the most powerful leaders. He has served in various capacities under different chief ministers.

A protege of former Congress leader S.M. Krishna (now with the BJP), Shivakumar had also been tasked with the job of hosting former Maharashtra chief minister the late Vilasrao Deshmukh and around 70 MLAs in 2002.