Karnataka: ED questions former MUDA commissioner in money laundering case
Bengaluru, Oct 29: The Enforcement Directorate Tuesday questioned D B Natesh, a former Commissioner of the MUDA, in connection with a money laundering case in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority in which it has booked Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his family and others, official sources said.
The federal agency had raided the premises of Natesh and another former MUDA Commissioner G T Dinesh Kumar on Monday as it covered 7-8 premises in Bengaluru and Mysuru while conducting fresh searches in the case.
Sources said the ED is recording the statement of Natesh at its office here while it has asked Kumar to join the investigation. He was not found at his premises during the Monday raids, the sources said.
An alleged close aide of the CM, Rakesh Papanna, and a builder named Manjunath was also searched by the ED.
ALSO READ: Waqf land controversy: No farmer will be evicted, says Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah
Social activist and complainant in this case, Snehamayi Krishna, on Monday said he has handed over 'video evidence' to ED in support of his complaint.
The federal agency conducted the first round of raids in this case on October 18 when it searched the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) office in Mysuru and some other locations.
It also questioned some lower-rank officials of the MUDA at its Bengaluru zonal office last week.
Taking cognisance of a Lokayukta FIR, the ED has filed an enforcement case information report (ECIR) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to book the Karnataka chief minister and others.
Siddaramaiah is facing Lokayukta and ED probes into alleged irregularities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife by the MUDA.
Siddaramaiah's wife Parvathi B M, brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy, Devaraju -- from whom Mallikarjuna Swamy purchased land and gifted it to Parvathi -- and others are named as other accused in the case by two probe agencies.
Parvathi was recently questioned by the Lokayukta Police in Mysuru.
It is alleged that 14 compensatory sites were allotted to Parvathi in an upmarket area in Mysuru (Vijayanagar Layout third and fourth stages), which had higher property value as compared to the location of her land which had been "acquired" by MUDA.
The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where it developed a residential layout.
Under the controversial scheme, MUDA allotted 50 per cent of developed land to the land losers in lieu of undeveloped land acquired from them for forming residential layouts.
It is alleged that Parvathi had no legal title over this 3.16 acres of land at survey number 464 of Kasare village, Kasaba Hobli of Mysuru taluk.
After the controversy broke out, Parvathi announced that she was returning the allotted plots to MUDA.
The chief minister had denied any wrongdoing by him or his family, saying the opposition was "scared" of him and had noted that it was the first such "political case" against him.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
