A team of 12 Enforcement Directorate officials searched the city office of the Mysuru Urban Development Authority Friday in connection with the money laundering case against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The Congress leader – who has refused to comment on the raids – and his family face state and federal charges over allegations they profited from an exchange of land allotments by MUDA.
The ED officials met MUDA Commissioner Raghunandan and other officials, including those from the Special Land Acquisition Office. It is likely the agency will seize certain documents.
Sources told NDTV the agency will investigate all officials involved in the alleged scam.
ED officials – escorted by a central paramilitary force – also conducted searches at other locations across Mysuru, although none are directly linked to the Chief Minister or his family.
The ED's raids follow K Mari Gowda resigning as MUDA chief.
READ | Amid Row Over Siddaramaiah Land Scam, Key Official Quits Citing Health
Mr Gowda said he had been "instructed" to do so by the Chief Minister, but insisted that health concerns and not political pressure had prompted his resignation.
Mr Gowda is a long-time associate of Siddaramaiah, having worked with him over 40 years now.
The specific case against the Chief Minister is that his wife, BN Parvathi, was given 14 plots of land in an upscale area of Mysuru in exchange for 3.16 acres elsewhere, reportedly for infrastructure projects. Anti-corruption activists claim the exchange cost the state Rs 45 crore.
One of the locations raided by the ED today was the home of Devaraj, the original owner of the 3.16 acres of land that Siddaramaiah has said was gifted to his wife by her brother.
Permission to prosecute Siddaramaiah was given by Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot, but that nod was immediately challenged in the High Court. Unfortunately for the Chief Minister he lost that challenge; the next day a trial court framed the charges, and the ED followed suit.
The ED has charged Siddaramaiah with destruction of evidence.
The Chief Minister's wife has handed back the 14 plots, but MUDA officials said that would not alter, or halt, the investigation against her, her husband, or her brother.
READ | Wife’s Letter “Her Own Decision,” Says Siddaramaiah. BJP Disagrees
Siddaramaiah, who also faces pressure from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal Secular to resign, has denied all charges. "I will fight. I am not afraid of anything,” he said.
The BJP and JDS also want a Central Bureau of Investigation in this case but the Congress' Karnataka government has blocked this, for now, by withdrawing general consent to the federal agency.
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