Karnataka to hold winter session of state legislature in Belagavi from Dec 8
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Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka cabinet on Thursday decided to hold the winter session of the state legislature in Belagavi for 10 days starting from December 8.
Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has been authorised to take the final call on the matter.
Patil said three cabinet sub-committees, which had not submitted their report for more than six months, were directed to do so at the earliest.
One committee pertains to the Justice John Michael D’Cunha’s report on the procurement of medicines and medical equipment during COVID-19, the Minister said.
Second committee was formed to review the financial condition of the universities in Karnataka and make suitable recommendations while the third committee was tasked with reviewing the developments on the Bengaluru-Mysuru Infrastructure Corridor and initiating appropriate steps to be taken in future.
The first and second committees are headed by the Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar while the third is by the Home Minister, Patil said adding it was resolved that the report should be submitted at the earliest though no time limit has not been specified.
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Illegal betting case: ED attaches ₹177 crore assets linked to Congress MLA K.C. Veerendra
Bengaluru: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said it has attached assets worth ₹177.3 crore belonging to Congress MLA K.C. Veerendra, also known as ‘Puppy’, and his associates in connection with an illegal online betting and gambling case, Deccan Herald reported.
According to the ED, the attached properties include immovable assets such as agricultural land and residential sites, along with other movable assets. The agency said these assets are believed to be proceeds of crime generated through illegal online betting and gambling activities.
The ED claimed that its investigation uncovered that Veerendra and his associates were the masterminds behind a nationwide illegal online betting network operating with the same modus operandi.
“The investigation has established that the accused generated substantial proceeds of crime by cheating the public through online betting and impersonation scams. In the scheme, unsuspecting players were induced to stake money on rigged illegal gaming websites, which functioned like online casinos. Their deposits, running into crores of rupees, were collected through payment gateways into designated payment aggregator accounts,” Deccan Herald quoted the agency as saying.
“The victims were initially shown fake winnings to build trust and were later blocked from withdrawing money. The investigation revealed the use of hundreds of mule accounts and multiple payment gateways for laundering the proceeds of crime,” the agency said.
Earlier, the ED carried out search and seizure operations at more than 60 locations across several states, during which large quantities of cash, gold bullion, gold and silver jewellery, vehicles, digital devices and incriminating documents were seized.
The ED also arrested Veerendra under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), and a prosecution complaint has been filed before the Special PMLA court. Based on the evidence gathered, the agency has provisionally attached properties held directly and indirectly by him, which are believed to be linked to money laundering.
“With this, the ED has attached assets worth more than ₹320 crore in the present case under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002. Further, during the course of the investigation, proceeds of crime exceeding ₹2,300 crore have been identified so far, which were generated through illegal online betting and gambling activities and subsequently laundered through multiple layers of transactions,” the agency said.
