Karnataka Guv nod for ED to prosecute ex-Minister B Nagendra in ST Corporation scam
Bengaluru, Apr 9 (PTI): Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has granted permission to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to prosecute former minister B Nagendra in connection with the multi-crore scam in the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation.
"The Governor granted the ED sanction to prosecute former minister Nagendra on Saturday," official sources said.
A special court here had granted bail to the Congress MLA in October 2024, after he was arrested by the ED in connection with the scam.
Nagendra was arrested in July under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), along with other key accused identified during the investigation.
He had resigned as the Minister for Scheduled Tribes Welfare in June last year, following allegations of his involvement in the scam.
The ED had earlier said that Nagendra was identified as the primary accused and the mastermind behind the scam, allegedly orchestrating it with the help of 24 others.
According to the agency, under Nagendra’s influence, the Corporation’s account was shifted to the MG Road branch of a bank without proper authorisation. A total of Rs 187 crore—including Rs 43.33 crore from the State Treasury under the ‘Ganga Kalyana Scheme’—was deposited into this account in violation of government procedures and guidelines.
“These funds were subsequently siphoned off through multiple shell accounts and converted into cash and bullion,” the ED alleged.
The investigation also revealed that Rs 20.19 crore of the diverted funds was used to support a candidate contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from the Bellary constituency, as well as for Nagendra’s personal expenses.
The agency had earlier stated that it filed a prosecution complaint (charge sheet) in the case before a special PMLA court in Bengaluru, which has taken cognisance of it.
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Pahalgam terror attack: Blood will flow if India stops river water, Bilawal Bhutto threatens
Islamabad (PTI): Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has threatened that blood would flow in rivers if water is stopped, in a sharp response to India's decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) after the Pahalgam terror attack.
"The Indus is ours and will remain ours - either our water will flow through it, or their blood," the former foreign minister was quoted as saying by The News on Friday while addressing a public rally in the Sukkur area of his home Sindh province.
The Indus flows through the province, and the Indus Valley Civilisation city of Mohenjo-Daro flourished on its banks. And Bilawal said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has claimed India is heir to a civilisation thousands of years old, "But that civilisation lies in Mohenjo-daro, in Larkana. We are its true custodians, and we will defend it."
Bilawal said that Modi cannot sever the aeons-old bond between the people of Sindh and the Indus, adding that "the Indian government has cast its eyes on Pakistan's water, and the situation demands unity among all four provinces to defend and protect their water."
He said that neither the people of Pakistan nor the international community would tolerate Modi's "warmongering" or any attempts to divert the Indus waters away from Pakistan.
"We will send a message to the world that robbery on the Sindhu won't be accepted."
The PPP chairman urged his supporters to prepare for a resolute struggle to defend their river from Indian aggression.
Bilawal, who has also served as Pakistan's youngest foreign minister, said the country and its people condemned the recent terrorist attack in India because Pakistanis themselves remain victims of terrorism.
India on Wednesday downgraded diplomatic ties with Islamabad. That call was taken by India after the attack on Tuesday in Pahalgam that killed 26 people, mostly tourists.
The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed responsibility for the attack.
In response to India's decision to suspend the IWT, Pakistan on Thursday threatened to suspend the Simla Agreement and put other bilateral accords with India on hold. Pakistan also suspended all trade, closed its airspace for Indian airlines and said any attempt to divert the water meant for it under the Indus Water Treaty will be considered an Act of War.
The Simla Agreement was signed in 1972. The treaty, signed in Shimla, was inked by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Pakistani President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Bilawal's grandfather.
Also, the PPP chairman announced on Friday that the federal government has now agreed to subject the construction of the controversial six new canals to consensus among all provinces.
"I want to share that the federal government has decided that no new canals will be built without consensus in the CCI (Council of Common Interests)," he said.
CCI is a high-powered inter-provincial body to tackle controversies between provinces.
