The Central Bureau of India officials today raided raided premises linked to former Union finance minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti across four cities of the country. The raids were carried out for allegedly for allegedly receiving money from media firm, INX Media, owned by Indrani and Peter Mukerjea to prevent a tax probe.

CBI personnel conducted raids in Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and Gurugram early in the morning. On Monday, CBI had registered an FIR on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, receiving illegal gratification, influencing public servants and criminal misconduct. The cases were registered against INX Media through its director Indrani Mukerjea, Peter Mukerjea, Karti Chidambaram, Chess Management Services (a company of Karti), Advantage Strategic Consulting Limited through its Director Padma Vishwanathan.

It has been alleged that Karti received money from INX Media for using his influence to manipulate a tax probe against it in a case of violation of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) conditions to receive investment from Mauritius.

In another development, Income Tax department carried out raids on around 22 locations in Delhi and nearby areas on charges of alleged Benami deals worth Rs 1,000 crore linked to RJD chief Lalu Prasad and others. The officials of I-T department raided the premises of a few prominent businessmen and real estate agents in Delhi, Gurgaon, Rewari and few others. They also surveyed 10 official premises, reported PTI.

Here is how Chidambaram, Karti and Lalu hit back at the government:

P Chidambaram

In a statement, P Chidambaram said that FIPB approval was granted in a “hundreds of cases”.

“The government, using the CBI and other agencies, is targeting my son and his friends…The government’s aim is to
silence my voice and stop me from writing, as it has tried to do in the cases of leaders of opposition parties, journalists, columnists, NGOs and civil society organisations,” he said.

The former Union finance minister also said that there was no allegation against him.

Karti Chidambaram

Karti Chidambaram told media that he was a victim of a “political vendetta” and done nothing wrong. “They have not seized any documents and cannot prove any charges against me. I have not done anything wrong,” Karti
said, adding the raids were being conducted to “silence the voice” of his father.

Lalu Yadav

The RJD chief said that he was “not scared at all” and will continue to fight against the “fascist forces”. He first took a dig at BJP by congratulating the BJP on “forging a new alliance” and asserted that he would keep fighting against “fascist forces till the last breath.”

“BJP mein himmat nahi hai ki Lalu ki awaz ko daba sake…Lalu ki awaz dabayenge to desh bhar me karoron Lalu khare ho jayenge…Main gidarbhabhki se nahi darne wala hoon (BJP does not have the courage to stifle my voice…If it tries to silence one Lalu, crores of Lalu will come forward. I am not scared of empty threats),” he said in a series of
tweets.

Yadav also rapped BJP, saying the Grand Alliance government in Bihar was intact. “Do not be tempted, the alliance is intact. Many more parties with a common ideology are going to join hands with us. I am not scared of the BJP letting loose the government machinery on me,” he wrote on the microblogging website.

In another tweet, the former Bihar CM CM said, “RSS-BJP ko Lalu ke naam se kampkapi chhuti hai…Inko pata hai ki Lalu inke jhoot, loot aur jumlon ke kaarobar ko dhwast kar raha hai, to dabab banao (The RSS-BJP shivers at the very name of Lalu…They know that Lalu is destroying their trade based on lies, loot and gimmicks and that is why they are putting pressure on me).”

(With agency inputs)