Karnataka govt suspends two officials of Valmiki Corporation in illegal money transfer case
Bengaluru, May 29: The State government on Wednesday suspended the Managing Director and an official of the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation Ltd over allegations of an illegal money transfer.
The unauthorised transfer of Rs 88.62 crore from the corporation’s bank account came to light after an Accounts Superintendent of the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation Ltd, Chandrashekhar, died by suicide on Sunday evening, leaving behind a note.
He has named the corporation's 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 minister in charge had issued oral orders for transferring the funds.
The opposition BJP has demanded the resignation of Scheduled Tribes Welfare Minister B Nagendra, following the allegations.
ALSO READ: BS Yediyurappa demands Minister B Nagendra's resignation over alleged scam
Padmanabh and Durgannanavar have been suspended as they allegedly overlooked the creation of a new bank account that facilitated unauthorised transfer of funds.
They have been suspended pending inquiry on charges of dereliction of duty, negligence and violation of financial rules, their suspension orders said.
According to the government, the corporation had its savings bank account in the Vasanth Nagar branch of the Union Bank of India, but another account was opened in the MG Road branch of the bank without authorisation, and funds to the tune of Rs 187 crore was moved to the new account "illegally".
Further stating that between March 5 and 23, Rs 88.62 crore was withdrawn from the MG Road branch account by anonymous persons, the suspension orders of both officials said that they did not act on it and held them responsible.
Pointing out that the money was moved to 14 "anonymous accounts" using "forged" cheques and RTGS letters, and an unknown number was entered instead of the registered mobile number for this purpose, the government said that it was also ensured that the intimation of the transaction did not reach the corporation’s registered email address.
It was found that through 14 "virtual accounts", money went to accounts in the name of well-known IT companies and a Hyderabad-based cooperative bank, the government said, adding, "These accounts were frozen and Rs 5 crore was returned to the corporation, and efforts are on to to ensure the return of the remaining amount."
Noting that Padmanabh, despite getting to know about the illegal transfer of money to 14 different bank accounts on May 22, submitted a report to the government only on May 27, a day after Chandrashekhar died by suicide leaving a note naming officials involved in the scam, the government said.
The report was submitted after it asked for it, following allegations, and the delay on his part in reporting the matter amounted to dereliction of duty, the government added.
Durgannanavar has been found to have failed in his duty in managing the bank accounts and financial transactions of the corporation, and in bringing it to the notice of higher officials, it added.
Following Padmanabh’s suspension, the government has given additional charge to ST Welfare Department’s Joint Director K R Rajkumar as the Managing Director of the Corporation, official sources said.
Earlier in the day, Home Minister G Parameshwara said that a CID probe is on and the truth will be known from the probe.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
