Days after making allegations against IGP D Roopa, IPS Vartika Katiyar gets transferred
Bengaluru: Days after IPS officer Vartika Katiyar made serious allegations against her superior, IGP D Roopa Moudgil, the Karnataka government on Monday transferred her from the Internal Security Division. Katiyar had accused Moudgil of directing police personnel to plant confidential documents from other departments in her chamber.
According to an official order issued by the state government, Vartika Katiyar has been transferred to the position of Deputy Inspector General of Police and Additional Commandant General, Home Guards, and Ex-Officio Additional Director, Civil Defence, Bengaluru. The government however, has not linked her transfer to her complaint.
Katiyar, a 2010-batch IPS officer, had filed a complaint on February 20 before Karnataka Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh, with a copy also marked to Director General of Police (DGP) Alok Mohan. In her complaint, she alleged that on September 6, 2024, head constable Manjunath TS and home guard Mallikarjun had entered her office and placed certain files there under the directions of D Roopa. She claimed that the personnel also took photographs of the documents and shared them on WhatsApp. According to her complaint, they had accessed her office by taking keys from the control room in her absence.
In addition to these allegations, Katiyar accused Moudgil of threatening her with a negative annual performance report. She stated that while she had come to know about this particular incident only recently, similar occurrences may have taken place in the past. She also warned that such incidents could be repeated in the future and held D Roopa directly responsible for any consequences.
D Roopa, a 2000-batch IPS officer, is currently awaiting promotion to the rank of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) from January 1, 2025. She has been a controversial figure in the Karnataka bureaucracy and was previously involved in a highly publicized dispute with IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri in 2023. The two officers remain entangled in a legal battle over their public accusations against each other.
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ED arrests Sandeepa Virk, 'cosmetologist' for alleged money laundering
New Delhi, Aug 13 (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate said on Wednesday it has arrested a woman, who claims to be an actor and a cosmetologist, under the anti-money laundering law in a case of alleged fraud and misrepresentation.
The agency said the purported links of the woman, Sandeepa Virk, with a Reliance Group executive, Angarai Natarajan Sethuraman (President, Corporate Affairs), are also under its scanner. Sethuraman, in a statement, denied any connection with Virk or any transactions related to her.
Virk was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Tuesday after searches were conducted against her and her associates in Delhi and Mumbai over the last two days.
A special court sent her to the ED's custody till August 14, the agency said. The woman claims to be the owner of a skin care products selling website named hyboocare.com, which the ED claimed was a "front" for money laundering.
She and her associates are being probed for allegedly exerting undue influence through "misrepresentation" and "defrauding" individuals by soliciting money under false pretences.
According to an Instagram ID of Virk, she is an actor and entrepreneur and the founder of the said website.
The federal agency said in a statement that the woman was also "in touch with" Sethuraman, former director of erstwhile Reliance Capital Limited.
She was communicating with him regarding "illegal liaisoning", the ED claimed, adding that the searches at Sethuraman's residence "confirmed" these allegations.
"Besides, diversion of funds for personal benefit has also been unearthed during the course of the search action," it said.
The ED alleged that public money worth about Rs 18 crore belonging to Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCFL) was disbursed to Sethuraman in 2018 by "flouting" prudent lending norms.
The funds were lent under terms that allowed a deferment of the principal amount as well as the interest, with multiple waivers granted and no due diligence conducted, it said.
The ED claimed that besides this, a home loan of Rs 22 crore was provided by Reliance Capital Limited by "violating" the prudential norms. "A large part of these loans are seen to have been eventually siphoned off and remained unpaid," it alleged.
Sethuraman, in a statement, dismissed the allegations as "baseless". He denied any connection with Virk or any transactions related to her.
Detailing about Virk's web portal, the agency said it purportedly sold FDA-approved beauty products. However, the ED said the products listed on the website have been found to be non-existent and the portal lacks a user registration option and is plagued by persistent payment gateway issues.
A scrutiny of the website uncovered minimal social-media engagement, an inactive WhatsApp contact number and an absence of transparent organisational details, all of which reinforce the finding of "non-genuine" commercial activity, the ED claimed.
"These factors, including limited product range, inflated pricing, false claims of FDA approval and technical inconsistencies, indicate that the website serves as a front for laundering funds," it said.
Another social media-hosted bio data of the woman said she is a certified cosmetologist.
The ED said several "incriminating" documents were seized during the searches and the statement of a man named Farrukh Ali, stated to be an associate of Virk, was recorded.
The money-laundering case stems from an FIR lodged by the Punjab Police.
Sethuraman said that the home loan he received from Reliance Capital was granted following due process and was secured by the property offered as collateral.
