THE Enforcement Directorate on Friday conducted searches in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) linked money laundering case in which it has booked Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his family members and others, official sources said. The MUDA office in Mysuru and some other locations are being raided by the federal probe agency officials along with an escort of central paramilitary force CRPF, the sources said. No premises of the CM or his family are being covered, they said. ED officials, as per the sources, are looking at MUDA documents at the Mysuru office in presence of the officials. They may seize the required documents as part of their investigation. The federal agency few weeks back had filed an enforcement case information report (ECIR) to book the CM and others taking cognisance of a recent Lokayukta FIR.

 

Siddaramaiah is facing Lokayukta and ED probes into alleged irregularities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife by the MUDA. Siddaramaiah’s wife Parvathi B M, brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy, Devaraju -- from whom Mallikarjuna Swamy purchased land and gifted it to Parvathi -- and others are named as other accused in the case by the two probe agencies. In the MUDA site allotment case, it is alleged that 14 compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah’s wife in an upmarket area in Mysuru (Vijayanagar Layout 3rd and 4th stages), which had higher property value as compared to the location of her land which had been “acquired” by MUDA. The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where it developed a residential layout. MUDA will provide all documents to ED, says Minister: KARNATAKA Urban Development Minister Suresha B S (Byrathi Suresh) on Friday said the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) would provide all documents to the ED as sought by the agency. Speaking to reporters, he said: “...It is our country’s law, it is our ED, police and courts and they know their jurisdictional limits, let them (ED) investigate.”

 

“Whatever documents are sought, MUDA will give.... ED is said to have got powers to raid after ECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report) being booked (against the CM), whatever documents they ask, MUDA will give, there is no question of us getting involved in this, officials will provide documents,” Suresh, under whose department MUDA comes, said. “It is not a raid, it is seeking documents. How can you call seeking documents a raid? They (ED) are seeking documents. Officials will give what they ask. It is 8 lakh page documents. Desai committee was given 8 lakh pages, the same will be given if sought. They may not be able to give in one day as taking xerox (photocopy) of 8 lakh pages may take a week. They will give,” he said.