K’taka tribal welfare case: Court grants conditional bail to Nagendra

Bengaluru: The Special Court for MLAs/MPs in Bengaluru has granted conditional bail to former Minister B. Nagendra on Monday in the Tribal Welfare Board case.

The court has directed him to provide Rs 2 lakh personal bond, and surety from two persons. He is likely to be released tonight.

The ED arrested Nagendra on July 12 in connection with the case after questioning him. Following allegations against him, Nagendra, who was Scheduled Tribes Welfare Minister, tendered his resignation on June 6.

Ahead of his arrest, the ED had carried out searches at several places, including at the premises of Nagendra, and ruling Congress MLA Basanagouda Daddal, who is Chairman of the state-run Corporation. The agency covered around 20 locations in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra as part of the probe in the case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The BJP has alleged Siddaramaiah's role in the scam since he had "agreed" to the misappropriation of Rs 89.6 crore from the government body. The BJP is claiming that it is a scam involving Rs 187 crore and as Siddaramaiah holds the finance portfolio, his involvement is evident.

The ED has named B. Nagendra, Congress MLA and former Minister for Scheduled Tribal Affairs as the primary accused and mastermind in the alleged scam in the Karnataka Maharishi Valmiki ST Development Corporation.

The Enforcement Directorate has filed a Prosecution Complaint (PC) or charge sheet before the Special Court for MPs/MLAs in Bengaluru in connection with the scam. The court has taken cognizance of the PC, the central agency had stated.

“Nagendra allegedly orchestrated the scam with the help of 24 others, including key associates like Satyanarayana Varma, Etakari Satyanarayana, J.G. Padmanabha, Nageshwar Rao, Nekkenti Nagaraj, and Vijay Kumar Gowda,” the ED said in a statement.

The agency initiated the investigation on the basis of FIRs registered by the Karnataka Police and CBI, which uncovered that around Rs 89.62 crore was diverted from the Corporation’s accounts into fake accounts across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and later laundered through shell entities.

The SIT investigating the scam has given a clean chit to former Minister Nagendra in the case.

--IANS

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