The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday carried out searches in 4 states, together with on the premises of former Karnataka minister and Congress chief B Nagendra and MLA B Daddal, as a part of a cash laundering probe linked to alleged irregularities within the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Improvement Company Restricted, official sources stated.
The company lined round 20 places in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra as a part of its investigation within the case registered beneath the Prevention of Cash Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources stated.
The premises of Congress chief and former Karnataka Tribal Welfare and Sports activities minister Nagendra and Congress MLA from Raichur rural seat Daddal in Bengaluru, Raichur and Ballari, some bullion operators in Mumbai and a few entry operators and linked entities are being searched. An armed escort of the CRPF accompanied the ED groups.
Nagendra’s PA was taken to the ED workplace in Bengaluru for questioning even because the officers recovered some paperwork and laptop {hardware}.
Daddal was additionally the chairperson of the Company.
A Particular Investigation Crew (SIT) of Karnataka Police CID had questioned the 2 on Tuesday on this case.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah stated his authorities is not going to intervene within the ED probe.
“Let ED do their job, we cannot intervene in that.
Allow them to do their job in accordance with regulation, allow them to do no matter they should,” Siddaramaiah advised reporters right here in response to a query on the raids.
The alleged rip-off got here to fore after accounts superintendent of the Company, Chandrasekharan P, was discovered useless on Could 21. He wrote a purported suicide word alleging unlawful switch of cash from the Company to varied financial institution accounts.
Subsequently two officers had been suspended. With mounting strain, minister Nagendra resigned on Could 29.
The Congress authorities, thereafter, constituted a Particular Investigation Crew (SIT) which has to this point arrested 11 individuals in reference to the case.
Within the suicide word, Chandrasekharan alleged that there was an unauthorised switch of Rs 187 crore belonging to the state-run Company from its checking account.
Additional, Rs 88.62 crore was illegally deposited into numerous accounts of some IT corporations and a Hyderabad-based cooperative financial institution.
Whereas the state authorities has constituted the SIT to research it, the Central Bureau of Investigation can be probing it concurrently primarily based on a grievance by the Union Financial institution of India.
In the meantime, State BJP chief B Y Vijayendra stated that primarily based on the Union Financial institution of India’s letter, the CBI has registered an FIR, and now the ED can be conducting raids in reference to the case. “We welcome ED raids on Nagendra and Daddal,” he stated.
“That is most likely a giant rip-off remarkable within the state’s historical past. The cash that was stored for ST communities has been misused by siphoning off to different states for the elections there and for the Lok Sabha polls,” he alleged.
