Tribal welfare scam: ED harassed me for 3 months, says ex-K'taka Minister Nagendra

Bengaluru: Former Minister B. Nagendra, who was in judicial custody in connection with the Valmiki Tribal Welfare Board scam case, was released from the Bengaluru Central Prison on Wednesday and alleged that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) harassed him.

The Special Court for MLAs/MPs had granted him the conditional bail on Monday.

Speaking to reporters after coming out of the prison, Nagendra, said that the BJP was conspiring to destabilise the elected governments in the country. "I have committed no mistake in the Valmiki Tribal Welfare Board scam. Despite this, the ED officials arrested me and harassed me for three months," Nagendra claimed.

He further maintained that the sleuths had forced him to take the names of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Dy CM D.K. Shivakumar. "This is being done due to the pressure from the senior BJP leaders. I had no role in the tribal welfare board scam. Despite the Special Investigation Team (SIT) clearly saying that there was no role, the central government and the BJP conspired," he charged.

When asked about the bypolls, Nagendra said the BJP has already been rooted out from Karnataka. "We will ensure their defeat in all three Assembly constituencies. We are going to win the Shiggaon, Sandur and Channapatna Assembly seats. We will ensure that the BJP is rooted out from Ballary district," Nagendra vowed.

Though the bail was granted on Monday, there was a delay in the completion of technical formalities to come out of the prison.

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

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.

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 as the primary accused and mastermind in the alleged scam in the Karnataka Maharishi Valmiki ST Development Corporation.

The Enforcement Directorate filed a Prosecution Complaint (PC) or charge sheet before the Special Court for MPs/MLAs in Bengaluru in connection with the scam. The court took cognizance of the PC.

“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.