Siddaramaiah seeks to know 'reason for terrorist attacks during elections'
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Bengaluru(PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday sought to know the "reason for terrorist attacks in the country during elections."
The chief minister's statement has drawn a sharp reaction from the opposition BJP.
"What is the reason for terrorist attacks in the country during elections? Siddaramaiah asked on 'X' on Wednesday, and he also shared media coverage of his statement on the incident.
Siddaramaiah's remark came after the completion of the second and final phase of voting in Bihar on Tuesday, and the blast in Delhi, which occurred the day prior to voting.
BJP Karnataka unit President B Y Vijayendra termed the statements of Siddaramaiah and other Congress leaders "irresponsible, insensitive, and low-level politics."
On Tuesday, speaking to reporters in Mysuru, the CM, while responding to a question about blasts in the country during elections, had said, "there should be no bomb blasts in the country, innocent people have died."
He had also said that it has happened during the election and it needs to be looked into.
Replying to a question, Siddaramaiah had also said that there was a possibility of the blast incident having its impact on the Bihar polls. "It will be against the BJP."
Minister Priyank Kharge on Tuesday had called Amit Shah the "most incompetent Home Minister" in independent India and demanded his resignation and he alleged intelligence failure for the blast.
Vijayendra underscoring that the probe into the blast was going on, he said that the statements were not only condemnable, but also alarming.
It is a "tragedy" for the state and a "misfortune" for the country that the Congress leaders are indulging in "low-level politics", even at a sensitive time when the entire country should speak in one voice.
In a social media post, the BJP leader said, "It is truly alarming that issues like national security, civilian casualties, sacrifices of our soldiers, and national honor are just political weapons for the Congress party."
The country has not forgotten that even after the horrific Pulwama attack in 2019, Congress leaders made statements that "helped Pakistan's propaganda," Vijayendra alleged.
He further alleged that the Chief Minister's statement now was also a "continuation of the same anti-national legacy" of the Congress. He demanded that the Chief Minister must immediately withdraw his statement and said that like people of Bihar, the people of the state of Karnataka will also give a befitting reply to the Congress party.
"This is not a matter of party politics; for true patriotic Indians, the country is always first, everything else comes later," the BJP leader added.
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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.
