Krishna Byre Gowda, the Revenue Minister has accused the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) of manipulating and compelling those arrested in connection with the alleged scam by Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation to name senior government officials belonging to Karnataka including the Deputy Chief Minister and Chief Minister as a means of collapsing Congress government in that state.
The allegation was made by him at a press conference held jointly by five senior ministers of the Government of Karnataka on July 18 prior to commencement of the ongoing session of the legislature. The other ministers who were present included K.J. George, Priyank Kharge, Dinesh Gundu Rao and Santosh Lad.
On July 17th, ED had said that ₹90 crore was misappropriated from the company; some part of which was spent for buying ‘a huge quantity of liquor before general election’’. It said funds from corporation were diverted into 18 bank accounts in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and subsequently siphoned into numerous bank accounts across state boundaries.
Dinesh Gundu Rao: ‘Suspects assured protection if they name big people’
The Health and Family Welfare Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao accused, “The motive behind ED entering into this investigation is not to find out truth but it is simply to destabilize our government in Karnataka. The agency is coercing those it has questioned to say that senior functionaries of the State Government, money used for election expenditure in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh or Ballari in Karnataka. It’s our understanding that suspects have been offered protection by ED if they can name influential personalities among them however we have also learnt that these suspects are being threatened with total persecution by law enforcement.”
“We are here to tell what all this is about – what ED wants. They’re no longer an investigative arm of Union Govt but BJP political wing.”
‘Why isn’t ED interested in alleged scams during tenure of BJP government in Karnataka?’
According to the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge, ED’s reputation is well-known. “In the last decade, ED has raided 121 politicians out of which 115 are from opposition. Only a quarter of these cases have gone to prosecution. However, ED, that came to probe Valmiki Corporation case did not show any interest in any scam during BJP’s term in Karnataka. Earlier one BJP MLC was apprehended for misappropriation of funds at D Devaraj Urs Truck Terminal; there were also frauds at Bhovi Development Corporation, APMC and Karnataka Handloom Corporation and others. Why hasn’t the ED shown similar interest in any of these cases?”
