Lok Ayukta officers raid homes, offices of Deve Gowda's son

Homes and offices of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda's son were raided on Friday by officials of the Lok Ayukta's office who were searching for evidence in a corruption case against him.

Two houses and four offices of HD Balakrishne Gowda, a former Karnataka Administrative Service (KAS) officer, in Padmanabhanagar in south Bangalore and Vijayanagar in the western part were searched, a Lokayukta (ombudsman) spokesperson told reporters here.

Home of his relative in Mysore, about 130 km from here, was also searched, the spokesperson said but declined to give details. Balakrishne Gowda, the eldest son of Deve Gowda, is facing charges of amassing wealth disproporationate to known sources of his income. He is said to own properties worth Rs.500 crore in and around Bangalore.

The case against Balakrishne Gowda was filed on September 22 in the Lok Ayukta court by S.N. Balakrishna, retired official of the state-run Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel in Bhadravathi, about 200 km from here.