Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) following the arrest of Congress MLA KC Veerendra Puppy over alleged involvement in illegal online and offline betting.
Justice MI Arun sought ED‘s response after KC Veerendra’s wife R D Chaitra approached the court against his arrest from Gangtok on August 23, according to The Indian Express.
Puppy is considered to be a close associate of Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.
Chaitra’s petition sought to declare the Congress lawmaker’s arrest illegal and violative of his fundamental rights, and release him.
The petition claimed that Veerendra Puppy was not involved any of alleged companies and they were not registered in his name.
Veerendra Puppy was arrested on August 23 as he was on a business trip to Gangtok.
The ED officials had searched 31 locations linked to him and his associates, according to The Indian Express.
The ED accused the Congress MLA of running several gambling sites and alleged that his brother was running three business entities, related to Puppy’s call centre and gaming business, from Dubai.
The ED officials on August 22 and 23 seized during searches against Puppy and his associates Rs 12 crore in cash, Rs 6 crore in gold ornaments, four vehicles, and 10 kilograms of silver items.