MUDA case: Lokayukta Police intensifies probe against Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah

Mysuru: Lokayukta Police in Mysuru have intensified the investigation in the alleged Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam, based on the FIR filed against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and others.

On September 25, a special court in Bengaluru for cases involving elected representatives directed the jurisdictional Lokayukta Police, in Mysuru, to initiate an investigation against Siddaramaiah and others on the basis of a case filed by Mysuru-based RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna. The court also directed the Lokayukta to file a report within three months.

Lokayukta Police filed the FIR on September 27 against Siddaramaiah, his wife B M Parvathy, brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy and J Devaraju, who allegedly sold the land to Swamy.

The Lokayukta Police formed four special teams on September 28 to probe the case. Lokayukta SP T J Udesh formed the teams, led by Mysuru Lokayukta DySP S K Malteesh, Chamarajanagar DySP Mathew Thomas, Police Inspector of Mysuru Ravi Kumar, and Police Inspector of Madikeri Lokesh Kumar.

Each team is designated with a different responsibility and SP Udesh is coordinating them.

Officials said that the teams worked on last Saturday and Sunday as well, despite those being holidays for government offices. They said that the officials came early to the office on Monday too.

Earlier, on September 24, Karnataka High Court had upheld the approval granted by Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot for a probe into the case against the CM under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

In addition to this, the petitioner, Krishna, has filed a complaint with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Bengaluru via email on September 28, and in person on Monday. The complaint to the ED seeks investigation into the alleged misuse of official powers by Siddaramaiah and "illegal" allotment of 14 sites by MUDA in favor of the CM's wife Parvathy and also the commission of offence under Prevention of Money Laundering Act.