ED, IT searches at premises of Telangana Congress leader Vivek (Lead)

Hyderabad : The officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Income Tax Department conducted searches at the houses and offices of G. Vivek, Congress party candidate from Chennur Assembly constituency in Telangana.

Simultaneous searches began early Tuesday at the former MP's premises in Hyderabad and Mancherial. Different teams of I-T officials carried out searches for nearly five hours at his houses and offices in Hyderabad and Mancherial.

Vivek's supporters staged a protest against the I-T raids outside his residence in Mancherial. They raised slogans against the Central government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The ED and I-T sleuths reportedly checked the records relating to a recent bank transaction of Rs 8 crore from the company owned by Vivek.

Two days ago, Hyderabad city police froze an online transaction valued at Rs 8 crore between Visaka Industries and Vigilance Security Services Pvt. Ltd. On instructions from the Election Commission, police had visited IDBI Bank's Basheerbagh branch and enquired about the alleged transaction and froze the transaction.

Police had also informed the Income-Tax department and joint director, Directorate of Enforcement of Hyderabad zone. Vivek, who had recently quit BJP to join Congress party, is contesting November 30 election from Chennur constituency in Mancherial district.

The former MP is the richest candidate in the fray in Telangana. In the affidavit submitted by him to the Election Commission while filing his nomination, he declared family assets of over Rs 600 crore. Vivek, founder and chairman of Visaka Industries Ltd, also owns Telugu new channel V6.

Meanwhile, IT sleuths also conducted searches at the premises of come business and contractors in Komaram Bheem Asifabad. The searches were carried out in Asifabad and Kagaznagar towns.