In early morning swoop, I-T officials raid Congress leader Yousuf Sharief

BENGALURU: Income tax officials on Saturday raided businessman and Congress leader Yousuf Sharief aka KGF Babu’s house, office and other properties in Bengaluru.

The I-T officials, who arrived in four MUVs around 7.30 am, raided Ruksana Palace, his house and offices at Vasanthnagar in Bengaluru, over alleged tax evasion. They were accompanied by the city police and CRPF personnel.

Sharief, who is said to be close to KPCC president D K Shivakumar, had contested the Legislative Council election from the local bodies constituency, but lost. At that time, he had declared assets worth Rs 1741 crore. He is an aspirant for a Congress ticket from Kolar in the 2023 Assembly election.

The I-T officials raided seven premises including Ruksana Palace, Umrah Developers, Umrah Real Estate and some of his associates. This is the seventh time the I-T officials are raiding KGF Babu in the last 15 years who has real estate business in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. He is also popular for participating in auctions of corner sites.

Yousuf Sharief, who started off trading in scrap, later entered into real estate business. He has 23 accounts in 12 banks while his wives and children hold 11 bank accounts. They include his first wife Ruksana, second wife Shazia, daughter Umrah Sharief and son Afshan Sharief. Yousuf had Rs 70 crore in his accounts as per his affidavit.

The I-T officials also raided the house of KGF Babu’s friend Rehman Khan in Mysuru, whose wife Reshma Banu is the corporator representing Ward 17.