Valmiki Corpn 'scam' case: Action will be taken once SIT submits probe report, says Siddaramaiah
Mysuru (PTI): Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said action will be taken and responsibilities will be fixed in connection with an alleged illegal money transfer scam involving a state-run Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation, once the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case submits its report.
He also rejected the opposition's demand for his resignation in connection with the scam.
"Three investigations are going on -- one by CBI in connection with the involvement of the bank, second by ED and the third by SIT. The SIT is conducting the probe, let the probe report come out," Siddaramaiah told reporters here in response to a question.
Replying to a question about the opposition demanding his resignation alleging that such a big scam wouldn't have happened without coming to his notice as he is also the finance minister, he said, "if that is the case, for what has happened in the bank in connection with the case, Nirmala Sitharaman (Union Finance Minister) should also resign then, also the Prime Minister. Will they give (resignation)? An investigation is going on, neither the preliminary nor final report has come, after filing of the chargesheet, the report will come."
Asked whether the embezzlement of funds did not come to his notice when money was released from the treasury, Siddaramaiah said, "every time it won't come to me. The money will be released by officials. It won't come to my notice, nor will I sign for it. The investigation is not yet completed. Without an investigation being completed, how can things be said? You (media) ask things just because the BJP is alleging."
Once the SIT submits the report after a probe, action will be taken and responsibility will be fixed, he said, adding that "without a report being submitted, how can the responsibility be fixed?"
The ED has been carrying out searches since Wednesday, including at the premises of a former minister in the Siddaramaiah government, B Nagendra, and ruling Congress MLA Basanagouda Daddal, who is Chairman of the Corporation, official sources said.
The agency covered around 20 locations in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra as part of the case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar in Bengaluru said, ED searches were not required as SIT has already conducted searches and have recovered certain money.
"The CBI has the provision that, in case there are irregularities over a certain amount, they can look into it. There was no need for ED (to get involved). No one had given any complaint to ED....there is a system they can't take up just because anyone says something," he said.
The government itself had handed over the probe to SIT. Investigations are on by them and they have served notices to some people in connection with a case, Shivakumar said.
Nagendra, who was minister, has voluntarily resigned to enable a free and fair probe. "We have cross examined, he has explained to us, he has not done any signature anywhere and is not involved. In accordance with the law probe was on, but in between that the ED has done searches now, let's see," he said.
Asked whether ED searches are politically motivated, the deputy chief minister said, "let them finish it (searches), we will talk later."
The illegal money transfer issue, involving the Corporation, came to the fore after its accounts superintendent, Chandrasekharan P killed himself on May 26.
He left behind a note claiming unauthorised transfer of Rs 187 crore belonging to the Corporation from its bank account; from that, Rs 88.62 crore was illegally moved to various accounts allegedly belonging to "well-known" IT companies and a Hyderabad-based cooperative bank among others.
Chandrasekharan has named the Corporation's now-suspended Managing Director J G Padmanabh, accounts officer Parashuram G Durugannavar, and Union Bank of India Chief Manager Suchismita Rawal in the note, while also stating that the "Minister" had issued oral orders for transferring the funds.
Following allegations against him in connection with the scam, Nagendra, who was Scheduled Tribes Welfare Minister, tendered his resignation on June 6.
The state government has constituted an SIT headed by Manish Kharbikar, Additional Director General of Police, Economic Offences, at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), to conduct the probe.
SIT had questioned Nagendra and Daddal on Tuesday in connection with the case.
Mumbai-headquartered Union Bank of India had also lodged a complaint with the CBI in connection with embezzlement of money belonging to the Corporation involving its MG Road branch, following which the premier investigation agency had initiated a probe.
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Netanyahu recommends his Cabinet approve Hezbollah cease-fire proposal
Beirut, Nov 26: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that he would recommend his cabinet adopt a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement with Lebanon's Hezbollah, as Israeli warplanes struck across Lebanon, killing at least 23 people.
The Israeli military also issued a flurry of evacuation warnings — a sign it was aiming to inflict punishment on Hezbollah down to the final moments before any ceasefire takes hold. For the first time in the conflict, Israeli ground troops reached parts of Lebanon's Litani River, a focal point of the emerging deal.
In a televised statement, Netanyahu said he would present the ceasefire to Cabinet ministers later on Tuesday, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting.
Netanyahu said the vote was expected later Tuesday. It was not immediately clear when the ceasefire would go into effect, and the exact terms of the deal were not released. The deal does not affect Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, which shows no signs of ending.
The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut that previously have not been targeted. The warnings, coupled with fear that Israel was ratcheting up attacks before a ceasefire, sent residents fleeing. Traffic was gridlocked, and some cars had mattresses tied to them. Dozens of people, some wearing their pajamas, gathered in a central square, huddling under blankets or standing around fires as Israeli drones buzzed loudly overhead.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, kept up its rocket fire, triggering air raid sirens across northern Israel.
Lebanese officials have said Hezbollah also supports the deal. If approved by all sides, the deal would be a major step toward ending the Israel-Hezbollah war that has inflamed tensions across the region and raised fears of an even wider conflict between Israel and Hezbollah's patron, Iran.
The deal calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting and would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. Thousands of Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor all sides' compliance.
But implementation remains a major question mark. Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal. Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz insisted on Tuesday that the military would strike Hezbollah if the U.N. peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, doesn't provide “effective enforcement” of the deal.
“If you don't act, we will act, and with great force,” Katz said, speaking with UN special envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.
The European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said Tuesday that Israel's security concerns had been addressed in the deal also brokered by France.
“There is not an excuse for not implementing a ceasefire. Otherwise, Lebanon will fall apart,” Borrell told reporters in Italy on the sidelines of a Group of Seven meeting. He said France would participate on the ceasefire implementation committee at Lebanon's request.
Bombardment of Beirut's southern suburbs continues
Even as Israeli, US, Lebanese and international officials have expressed growing optimism over a ceasefire, Israel has continued its campaign in Lebanon, which it says aims to cripple Hezbollah's military capabilities.
An Israeli strike on Tuesday levelled a residential building in the central Beirut district of Basta — the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area near the city's downtown. At least seven people were killed and 37 wounded, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.
Three people were killed in a separate strike in Beirut and three in a strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. Lebanese state media said another 10 people were killed in the eastern Baalbek province. Israel says it targets Hezbollah fighters and their infrastructure.
Earlier, Israeli jets struck at least six buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs. One strike slammed near the country's only airport, sending plumes of smoke into the sky. The airport has continued to function despite its location on the Mediterranean coast next to the densely populated suburbs where many of Hezbollah's operations are based.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in the suburbs, as well as a warning for the southern town of Naqoura where UNIFIL is headquartered.
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told The Associated Press that peacekeepers will not evacuate.
Other strikes hit in the southern city of Tyre, where the Israeli military said it killed a local Hezbollah commander.
The Israeli military also said its ground troops clashed with Hezbollah forces and destroyed rocket launchers in the Slouqi area on the eastern end of the Litani River, a few kilometres from the Israeli border.
Previous ceasefire hopes were dashed
Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah would be required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the strongest Iranian-backed force in the region, would likely significantly calm regional tensions that have led to fears of a direct, all-out war between Israel and Iran. It's not clear how the ceasefire will affect the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Hezbollah had long insisted that it would not agree to a ceasefire until the war in Gaza ends, but it dropped that condition.
Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas carried out its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, triggering the Gaza war. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah, and the two sides have been exchanging barrages ever since.
Israel escalated its campaign of bombardment in mid-September and later sent troops into Lebanon, vowing to put an end to Hezbollah fire so tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes.
More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombardment has driven 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members.
Hezbollah fire has forced some 50,000 Israelis to evacuate in the country's north, and its rockets have reached as far south in Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive in Lebanon.
After previous hopes for a ceasefire were dashed, U.S. officials cautioned that negotiations were not yet complete and noted there could be last-minute hitches that delay or destroy an agreement.
“Nothing is done until everything is done,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.
While the ceasefire proposal is expected to be approved if Netanyahu brings it to a vote in his security Cabinet, one hard-line member, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, said he would oppose it. He said on X that a deal with Lebanon would be a “big mistake” and a “missed historic opportunity to eradicate Hezbollah.”
