New Delhi: The Income Tax Department on Wednesday conducted searches at multiple properties related to Karnataka Energy minister DK Shivakumar, who was overseeing the stay of 44 Congress MLAs from Gujarat at a resort near here, in connection with a tax evasion case.

IT officials said Rs 5 crore cash was recovered from the Delhi residence of the minister, who has been taken to his house in Bengaluru from the resort by the IT team.

Another Rs 2.5 crore cash recovered during the searches on properties of D K Shivakumar.

The minister, was in charge of the 44 MLAs lodged there, to keep the flock together for preventing the BJP from allegedly “poaching” on them, was at the resort when the search took place, IT officials said.

As the raids on the resort triggered angry reactions from the Congress, the IT department said the resort is not being raided.

They said only the minister’s room in the resort was ‘searched’ and not of the MLAs from Gujarat.

“The search team has no concern with the MLAs and there has been no contact with MLAs and the search team,” the deparment said in a statement.

IT officials said a total of 39 premises of the minister and his family are being raised by a team of about 120 Income Tax Department officials with the aid of central paramilitary forces. The raids are taking place in Delhi and Karnataka.

The department is also investigating charges of alleged role of money power and huge transfer of illegal funds for these polls.

The IT Department further said the timing of the search was decided well in advance.

“The search is the continuation of an investigation which has been in progress for a considerable period of time.They added that the timing of the search was decided well in advance,” the IT statement said.

“The events involving certain MLAs of another state being brought to Karnataka were unforeseen and unpredictable events,” it said.

The search, described as an ‘evidence gathering exercise’, is being conducted by the Karnataka Investigation Wing of the Income tax department.

The Congress legislators have been camping at the resort since Saturday last after the party flew them in here to fend off alleged “poaching” attempts by the BJP ahead of the August 8 Rajya Sabha polls in Gujarat.