Lokayukta police files FIR against Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru/Mysuru: Lokayukta police on Friday registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and others in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment case, following the court order.

Congress President M Mallikarjun Kharge, meanwhile, came to Siddaramaiah's defence, stating that the party is standing with him and will support him.

Siddaramaiah, who began his three-day visit to his home district of Mysuru, claimed that he was being targeted in the MUDA issue as the opposition is "scared" of him and said it's the first such "political case" against him.

He also reiterated that he won't resign following the court ordering a probe against him in the case as he has done no wrong and asserted that he would fight the case legally.

While Siddaramaiah is accused number one (A1) in the case, his wife B M Parvathi (A2), brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy (A3), Devaraju (A4) -- from whom Mallikarjuna Swamy purchased land and gifted it to Parvathi -- and others are named in the FIR registered by Lokayukta police in Mysuru.

A Special Court in Bengaluru on Wednesday ordered a Lokayukta police probe against Siddaramaiah in the case, setting the stage for filing an FIR against him.

The order of the Special Court Judge, Santhosh Gajanan Bhat, came a day after the High Court upheld the sanction granted by the Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to conduct an investigation against Siddaramaiah on the allegations of illegalities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife by the MUDA.

The Special Court exclusively to deal with criminal cases related to former and elected MPs/MLAs issued the order directing the Lokayukta police in Mysuru to initiate an investigation on the complaint filed by RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna.