Bengaluru/Belagavi: Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday carried out simultaneous searches at 18 premises linked to Karnataka PWD minister Satish Jarkiholi, his daughter and Chikkodi MP Priyanka Jarkiholi, and their associates across Karnataka and neighbouring Maharashtra. The multi-city crackdown was a fresh investigation, reportedly under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and not linked to any ongoing money-laundering case involving Manjunath.Belagavi district, home turf of the Jarkiholi family, served as a major focal point of the ED searches, with officials deployed at seven key locations across Belagavi city and Gokak taluk. Simultaneous searches were also conducted at the 64-year-old minister’s residence in Dollars’ Colony and his official quarters on Crescent Road in Bengaluru. While minister Satish Jarkiholi was at his Bengaluru residence, his daughter Priyanka was in Belagavi.Investigators are scrutinising foreign exchange flows allegedly linked to sugar industries, mining ventures and commercial projects in African countries, particularly Rwanda and Uganda.ED teams arrived early in the morning at the minister’s primary family residence, where Priyanka was present during the operation. Officials also searched the Gokak premises of Vitthal Parasannavar and Raju Dharnatti, both known close aides of the minister. In Belagavi city, the teams searched the Laxmi Tekdi residence and Club Road office of Dr Girish Sonwalkar, as well as the Kumaraswamy Layout residence of former KPCC member Malagouda Patil.ED teams also searched, for the second time, the residence of Y Manjunath, the minister’s brother-in-law and an additional commissioner in the excise department.ED sources clarified that while earlier probes involving the state excise department had focused on family members, the present action is an independent investigation tracing suspected money trails linked to overseas entities.The searches triggered a political backlash in Karnataka, with Congress leaders alleging that central agencies were being used to target the state govt and its leaders.Defending his brother, MLC Lakhan Jarkiholi said Satish had several independent business interests, including sugar mills and overseas ventures, and would cooperate fully with the investigation and provide documents to establish the legitimacy of his assets and business dealings.
