Valmiki Corporation scamsters honey-trapped officials to misappropriate money, claims BJP leader
Bengaluru (PTI): Senior BJP leader B Sriramulu on Thursday alleged that the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation scamsters honey-trapped government and bank officials to misappropriate money.
The former minister claimed that high-end luxury cars were purchased with the money meant for the welfare of tribal people. The money was laundered and used in different elections, including the Lok Sabha election, he further claimed.
"The scamsters purchased a Lamborghini car with the Valmiki Corporation funds, diverted money through 'hawala' channels and spent it on elections," Sriramulu claimed at a press conference here.
Former Minister Narasimha Nayak (Raju Gowda) alleged that the state government played a dubious role in the scam.
"We all know that more than Rs three crore cannot be transferred without the approval of the Finance Secretary, but on a single day Rs 50 crore was transferred. It is surprising that no one in the government knew about it," Nayak pointed out.
According to the BJP leader, the money was transferred to the accounts of 16 business persons. The amount transferred was somewhere between Rs 4.12 crore to Rs 5.98 crore.
Both the BJP leaders demanded the arrest of Congress MLA B Nagendra who resigned as Tribal Welfare minister after the scam came to light.
The alleged scam was uncovered when the Accounts Superintendent of the Corporation, Chandrasekharan P, took his own life on May 26 and left a suicide note alleging that a sum of Rs 187 crore was illegally transferred from the corporation.
This includes Rs 88.62 crore illegally credited to various accounts of some IT companies and a Hyderabad-based cooperative bank, according to official sources.
The Congress government thereafter constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT), which has so far arrested 11 people in connection with the case.
The SIT has questioned Nagendra and Corporation chairperson Basanagouda Daddal.
Meanwhile, the central-government agency Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday raided several locations in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana allegedly linked to Nagendra and Daddal.
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.
41 lakh illicit liquor seized, 1.84 lakh arrested in major drive: K'taka Minister tells Assembly
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): The Karnataka Excise Department has conducted a statewide crackdown on illegal liquor trade over the last two years, resulting in arrests and seizures of alcohol, Karnataka Excise Minister R B Timmapur said on Tuesday.
As many as 1,09,017 people were arrested, and seizures included 13.66 lakh litres of liquor and 27.19 lakh litres of beer, he said in a written reply to a starred question by Harihar BJP MLA B P Harish in the Karnataka Assembly.
The Minister said the enforcement drive covered the financial year 2023–24, 2024–25 up to June, and 2025–26 from July to October, targeting unauthorised liquor manufacture, storage, sale and transportation across the State.
"During this period, statewide enforcement drives resulted in a total of 1,84,570 raids against illegal liquor sales,” Timmapur said.
ALSO READ: BJP accuses Karnataka govt of 'failing' to prevent noise pollution caused by 'azaan'
He noted that 9,179 non-bailable cases and 91,968 bailable and compoundable cases under Section 15(A) of the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965, were registered during the same period.
According to him, there have been no reports indicating that students have become addicted to alcohol due to illegal liquor sales.
The sale of alcohol to minors is strictly prohibited under the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965, and the department has issued periodic instructions to initiate legal action against violators, with strict enforcement and investigation measures in place, the Minister said.
Excise officials are carrying out regular road and night patrols, collecting intelligence, monitoring habitual offenders and conducting raids to identify illicit distillation units, unauthorised liquor outlets and spurious liquor manufacturing centres, he said, adding the department is also enforcing the law to prevent the production, storage, sale and transport of spurious, non-duty-paid and unauthorised liquor.
Regular patrols are being conducted on national and state highways, with suspicious vehicles being subjected to checks.
At the district level, standing committee meetings are held under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioners, and joint operations are carried out with the police and forest departments to curb excise-related offences.
The department is also conducting awareness programmes through Gram Sabhas and in schools and colleges to educate the public and students about the physical, mental and social health hazards associated with alcohol addiction and substance abuse, Timmapur added.
