Ex-K’taka minister claims ED pressured him to implicate CM in corruption case
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Bengaluru: B Nagendra, a former Karnataka minister who was granted bail on Tuesday in an alleged corruption case, claimed that the Enforcement Directorate pressed him to implicate Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar, according to The Hindu. He said that the central agency tried to weaken the Congress administration in Karnataka through him.
The Enforcement Directorate has charged Nagendra with embezzling funds from the Sri Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation's bank accounts. It claimed that the money was diverted to support the Lok Sabha election in the Ballari constituency.
The case came to light in May, when a corporation official, Chandrashekhar P, committed suicide, purportedly due to fear of repercussions.
On June 6, Nagendra, a former Minister for Scheduled Tribes Welfare, stepped down due to the charges. He was arrested on July 12 and given bail on Monday.
The former minister told reporters after being released from jail: “The ED pressurised me to name Mr Siddaramaiah and Mr Shivakumar, but I refused. When I have no role in the scam, where does their role come from?”
Nagendra claimed that the Enforcement Directorate wanted him to implicate Siddaramaiah, who headed the state finance ministry, according to PTI. However, he stated that the case was a bank scam rather than a state government scam, Scroll.in reported.
“Money has been transferred without any written authorisation,” the Congress MLA said. “Bank officials have transferred the money without verifying KYC when the model code of conduct was in place. This is not a scam connected to the State government but a bank scam.”
Regarding the Enforcement Directorate's claim that funds were diverted for the Ballari election, Nagendra stated that a Special Investigation Team determined that money was not utilised for the polls.