JD(S) candidate raided; Rs 59 lakh, liquor seized

NT Correspondent

Chitradurga: JD(S) candidate from Chitradurga Raghu Achar was left redfaced as Election Commission and Excise officials seized Rs 58.83 lakh cash and an excessive amount of liquor from his residence on Wednesday before polling even began at 7 am.

The cash was kept in envelopes allegedly to distribute to voters and the liquor was mostly of a popular international brand of beer. Achar aspired to be the Congress candidate from Chitradurga constituency, but did not get the party ticket. This had not gone down well with him, since applicants for a Congress ticket allegedly had to shell out Rs 2 lakh beforehand.

He had held a press conference claiming that Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar had “destroyed his political career”, adding that the Grand Old Party had ignored marginalised castes such as the Vishwakarma community he belongs to. He went over to the JD(S) and got a ticket of his choice and contested from Chitradurga. JD(S) legislature party leader HD Kumaraswamy even campaigned for him.

Things had been going great for Achar before he got caught red-handed. Moreover, the Central Crime Branch (CCB) on Tuesday night also recovered around Rs 1.90 crore from a pharmacy at Akkipete in Bengaluru. The Election Commission disclosed that Rs 375 crore was seized in Karnataka on Wednesday