Panaji, May 17 (IANS): With three days to go for the Panaji Assembly by-election, the Income Tax Department sleuths on Thursday searched residence and offices of Goa Congress leader and former Panaji mayor Yatin Parekh.

Describing the raids as an act of "vengeance" by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress said the BJP was desperate to win at "any cost".

Parekh's residence and offices were raided by the team of I-T officials from the Karnataka-Goa Income Tax Directorate. While officials didn't disclose details of raid, Parekh refused to comment. But the Goa Congress described the raid as a "desperate" act of the BJP.

"The BJP believes in misusing every government agency at their disposal, whether it's the Election Commission or the Income Tax Department. This raid on a Congress leader is an example of how the BJP is acting out of vengeance. They are feeling jittery ahead of the Panaji Assembly by-election," Congress spokesperson Trajano D'Mello said.

Parekh, also a businessman who served as Panaji mayor and contested the 2012 Assembly elections on a Congress ticket, is considered close to Atanasio Monserrate, the Congress candidate in the by-election. He is a key member of Monserrate's poll campaign.