Former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa was in shock on Wednesday morning when the CBI raided his homes and offices across he state, interrogating him for five-and-a-half hours in his official home on Race Course Road even as CBI teams fanned out in his hometown of Shimoga, and in mine-rich Bellary where the Jindal Steel Works’ offices were inspected.
Concerned that their arrest was imminent, Mr Yeddyurappa, his two sons, and son-in-law Sohan Kumar applied for anticipatory bail, which has not yet been granted.
Chaos ruled as his son-in-law, Uday Kumar, based in Shimoga, was taken from their Vinobanagar home to open a bank locker, found to be empty, at Syndicate Bank. The offices of the family-run Prerana Trust and Dhavalagiri Properties’ offices in the city were also raided as was Chitradurga-based businessman and mine owner Praveen Chandra’s office in Bengaluru.
Six CBI teams carried out the raids a day after registering an FIR. The former CM was reading his newspaper when the CBI marched into his home after an early team went around his Dollars Colony home with a fine-tooth comb.
The raids were part of the CBI’s investigation of illegal mining cases and the allegation that Mr Yeddyurappa received kickbacks from South West Mining Ltd to curry favour. A release from CBI headquarters in New Delhi stated that highly incriminating documents were found at Mr Yeddyurappa’s Race Course Road and Dollars Colony residences.