Kundapur, Feb 17, 2016: As many as 7500 sarees reportedly meant to be distributed to voters in view of the upcoming Zilla and Taluk Panchayat elections, were seized from the premises of the District Co-operative Bank premises at Byndoor on February 16, Tuesday during a raid by election officers. The Bank premises was sealed following the raid. It has been gathered that the raid was conducted after some BJP members including Nagaraj lodged a written complaint the previous night.
The raiding team was led by Block Education Officer Nagesh Naik who also happens to be the Presiding Section Officer. The sarees were found in 13 bundles. Adequate police protection was provided to the raiding team.
Deepak Kumar Shetty, Vice President of BJP Raitha Morcha who later spoke to reporters alleged that the sarees were stored with an intention of distributing them to the voters and luring them.
However, the Bank Manager Venkatesh Billawa has denied the allegations and has claimed that the sarees belonged to the Navodaya Rural Development Trust in Mangaluru. He also claimed that the sarees the sarees which had remained after distribution to members of the Navodaya Self-Help Groups were stored in the Bank. He said the Trust had relevant documents to prove its claim.