The statements of H Anjaneya, assistant liaison officer of Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi, before the Income Tax (I-T) department officials in connection with the 2017 raids against Minister D K Shivakumar, have revealed hawala money transportation from Chandni Chowk to AICC office on Akbar Road in New Delhi.
The documents of various witnesses and accused were released by BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra in New Delhi on Wednesday. One of the statements is of Anjaneya, who resides at Karnataka government staff quarters in RK Puram in Delhi. Anjaneya told I-T sleuths that he did visit AICC office to deliver cash.
“I agree that, with Jagadish Chand, I carried cash to AICC office on Akbar Road. But money was brought by one Rajendran. I just accompanied Rajendran to the AICC office. But I never went to Chandini Chowk with Chand.’’
Chand, 59, is a resident of Mahammadpur village in Delhi. Chand was the driver of the late Suresh Kumar Sharma, proprietor of Bengaluru-based Sharma Travels.
After Suresh Kumar Sharma passed away, Jagadish worked as a driver of Sunil Kumar Sharma, Suresh’s brother. Another witness told I-T officials that Chand works closely with Rajendran, a retired superintendent of government guest house in Mysuru. Anjaneya is believed to have said, “I am not aware of how much cash was carried to AICC office. It is known to Rajendran as he maintains the list. Cash was given to the accounts section of the AICC office. We used to carry money in normal bags (sic).’’
When I-T sleuths confronted him, quoting Chand’s statement that Anjaneya and Rajendran transported the cash from Chandni Chowk, Anjaneya maintained he never went to Chandni Chowk.
“I have not gone to Chandni Chowk. Always Rajendran goes to Chandni Chowk for collection of money. Ajay Khanna and his assistants came to collect cash from me. Approximately, Rs 4 crore was given by me to Khanna and his assistants on various dates in 2016. I handed over the money to them as per direction of Shivakumar (sic).’’
Anjaneya also said that he was one of the trusted assistants of Shivakumar and used to collect cash and store it at apartments in Safdajung Enclave.
“I was given the responsibility of storing the cash belonging to Shivakumar. Whenever I get a direction from Shivakumar, I receive cash from the appropriate person. After collecting the cash, I would store it either at B2, B4 or B5, Safdarjung Enclave and lock the premises. After locking the premises, I would place the keys in my residence in KR Puram, where they were found today. Whenever I get a call from Shivakumar or some of his family members like D K Suresh, I take the keys, open one of the apartments and deliver the cash to the appropriate person. These transactions go on throughout the year. However, I know of the transactions only since the last one year. Before that, Rajendran was handling the affairs. Rawat, Jagadish and Shailendar are the people who bring the cash and hand it over to me,’’ Anjaneya said.