Enforcement Directorate tightens grip on Congress leaders over Valmiki tribal welfare scam in Karnataka, raids at several places
Bengaluru. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted raids in Bellary district and Bengaluru in connection with the Maharishi Valmiki Tribe Welfare Board scam. This action was taken at the places of four Congress leaders and others associated with them.
Raids are being conducted at the houses and offices of Congress MP E. Tukaram, Congress MLA Na. Ra. Bharat Reddy and J. N. Ganesh alias Kampli Ganesh. Apart from this, the house of Govardhan, personal assistant of Bellary Congress MLA and former minister B. Nagendra, is also being raided.
ED raids are also going on at the office of former minister and Congress MLA B. Nagendra in Bengaluru. It was told that a team of about 15 ED officials has raided eight places simultaneously since this morning. Of these, five places are in Bellary and three in Bengaluru. However, it has not been officially confirmed yet.
Former minister B. Nagendra has already been sent to jail in connection with this scam. He resigned after the scam was revealed. On this, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had said that the matter of making Nagendra a minister again would be reviewed.
Former Scheduled Tribe Welfare, Youth Empowerment and Sports Minister B. Nagendra was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on July 12, 2024 in connection with the tribal welfare scam. He was then sent to judicial custody and released on bail after spending about three months in jail.
After being released from jail, Nagendra alleged that the ED deliberately harassed him. He also said that the BJP is conspiring to destabilize the elected governments of the country.
At the same time, the BJP alleges that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also has a role in the scam as he allegedly “approved” the misappropriation of Rs 89.6 crore from the government body. The BJP claims that the scam is worth Rs 187 crore and since the finance portfolio is held by Siddaramaiah himself, his involvement is clear.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has named B Nagendra as the prime accused and mastermind of the alleged scam in the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation.
Nagendra carried out the scam along with 24 others, including Satyanarayana Varma, Etakari Satyanarayana, J.G. Padmanabha, Nageswara Rao, Nekunti Nagaraj and Vijay Kumar Gowda. The probe revealed that about Rs 89.62 crore was transferred from the corporation’s accounts to fake accounts in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and then laundered through fake entities.
However, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Congress government had given Nagendra a clean chit in the case and did not include his name in the chargesheet. The ED had initiated the probe based on FIRs filed by the Karnataka police and the CBI.
The scam came to light after P Chandrasekaran (52), the accounting superintendent of the tribal welfare board, committed suicide. His suicide note mentioned knowledge of the scam, attempts to suppress it and pressure exerted on him by politicians and senior officials. The suicide note also hinted at the involvement of a minister of the Congress government, whom Chandrasekaran blamed for his death.
The state government’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) filed a 300-page charge sheet, which does not name any politician from the ruling Congress.
Courtesy : Hindi News