ED questions former TDB officer citing money laundering in Sabarimala gold loss case
Kochi (PTI): Former TDB administrative officer S Sreekumar was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate on Friday here as part of its probe into the money laundering angle of the Sabarimala gold loss incident, officials said.
Sreekumar is the sixth accused in the case related to the loss of gold from the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idol plates being probed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT). He was granted bail by a Kollam vigilance court on January 29.
He was not arraigned as an accused in the second case involving the loss of gold from the doorframes of the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum).
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ED sources said that following a summons, Sreekumar appeared at the agency’s office here around 10 am.
According to ED officials, Sreekumar was the administrative officer at Sabarimala when the Dwarapalaka idols were taken to Chennai for gold plating, and he had signed the related documents.
Recently, the ED had interrogated another former TDB administrative officer, Murari Babu.
ED sources said that the accused in the two cases being probed by the SIT are also facing a money laundering investigation and would be questioned.
The ED will soon issue summons to prime accused Unnikrishnan Potty, who was released from jail after securing statutory bail in the SIT case on Thursday.
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Bypoll results will decide the future of Congress in Karnataka: BJP leader Ashoka
Bengaluru (PTI): Leader of Opposition BJP in the Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka said the results of the bypolls in Davanagere South and Bagalkote assembly constituencies will decide the future of the ruling Congress in the state.
The bypolls were necessitated following the demise of sitting Congress MLAs Shamanur Shivashankarappa and H Y Meti, who represented Davanagere South and Bagalkote constituencies respectively.
The ruling Congress has fielded Shamanur Shivashankarappa’s grandson and Karnataka Minister S S Mallikarjun’s son Samarth Shamanur in Davanagere South and Umesh Meti in Bagalkote, who are locked in a direct contest with BJP candidates T Dasakariyappa and Veerabhadrayya Charantimath.
According to Ashoka, there is a contest between the poor and the rich in the upcoming bypolls, scheduled on April 9.
"The Congress will lose this election, and the future of the state will be decided. Since Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said ‘Make the poor win’, the BJP has fielded poor candidates,” the BJP leader said in a press conference.
In Davanagere, the BJP has given a ticket to an ordinary person, whereas Congress has given tickets to powerful and influential people. In Bagalkote, there is a very good opinion about the BJP candidate, he claimed.
According to him, the Congress has given space to dynastic politics in both places. Therefore, the BJP has a strong chance of winning in both constituencies.
The LoP said if the Congress candidate wins in Davanagere, it is understood that Muslims will not get opportunities in the future, and therefore, Muslims are opposing the Congress party.
He also charged that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who talks about uniting backward classes, has not given a ticket to backward class candidates.
