The police said V Nagaraj popularly known as "Bomb Naga," formerly a history-sheeter, was not present either at his home or office at Srirampura during the searches and had reportedly escaped.
It said the police personnel had to enter the former corporate's office by breaking open its window.
The officials said they recovered a huge amount of cash, some documents and sharp weapons, and are investigating the case.
He said they were investigating a kidnapping case and had got a search warrant from the court.
Police said the currency notes were being counted with the help of a note counting machine.
In 2004, Nagraj had contested the assembly elections from the Gandhinagar constituency in the city on JD(S) ticket against Dinesh Gundurao, now the working president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee.