Karnataka HC asks SIT to transfer probe in Valmiki Tribal Welfare scam to CBI

Bengaluru, June 1 (IANS) The Karnataka High Court, on Tuesday, directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted by the Congress-led state government, to hand over the investigation into the Valmiki Tribal Welfare scam to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax (IT) Department are also probing the scam.

The CBI was also probing the case limited to the FIR filed by the Union Bank of India regarding illegal transfer of funds.

Expelled BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, senior BJP MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi, former BJP MLAs Arvind Limbaavali and Kumar Bangaarappa have submitted a writ petition to the court seeking comprehensive investigation by the CBI.

Earlier, the Union Bank of India had submitted a petition to the court, demanding the CBI probe.

The court had rejected the plea.

The case of the suicide of Accounts Superintendent P. Chandrasekaran (52), posted with the State Tribal Welfare Board, had brought to light the alleged multi-crore scam.

In the suicide note, the officer had said about the scam and attempts to silence the matter and extreme pressure on him by politicians and senior officers.

However, the 300-page charge sheet by the special wing of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which comes under the state government, does not mention the names of politicians from the Congress.

Chandrasekaran's death note, however, indicated the involvement of a Minister from the state government in connection with the Tribal Welfare case and held him responsible for his death.

B. Nagendra, former Minister for Scheduled Tribe Welfare, Youth Empowerment and Sports, was arrested on July 12, 2024, by the ED in connection with the tribal welfare scam.

Later, he was sent to judicial custody and released on bail after spending three months in jail.

Nagendra had to resign following the surfacing of the scam.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had said that the matter of rejoining the Congress by Nagendra would be reviewed.

Nagendra, after his release from prison, had alleged that the ED had harassed him.

He said that the BJP was conspiring to destabalise the elected governments in the country.

The BJP has alleged Siddaramaiah's role in the scam since he had "agreed" to the misappropriation of Rs 89.6 crore from the government body.

The BJP is claiming that it is a scam involving Rs 187 crore, and as Siddaramaiah holds the finance portfolio, his involvement is evident.

The ED has named B. Nagendra the primary accused and mastermind in the alleged scam in connection with the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribe Development Corporation.

"Nagendra allegedly orchestrated the scam with the help of 24 others, including key aides like Satyanarayana Varma, Etakari Satyanarayana, J.G. Padmanabha, Nageshwar Rao, Nekkunti Nagaraj, and Vijay Kumar Gowda," the ED had said in a statement.

However, the SIT constituted by the Congress government had given Nagendra a clean chit in the scam and had not mentioned his name in the charge sheet.

The ED investigation had revealed that around Rs 89.62 crore was diverted from the Corporation's accounts into fake ones across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and later laundered through shell companies.

--IANS

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