'Fake' plaint against agriculture minister: CM Siddramaiah orders CID probe

Seven assistant agriculture directors allegedly wrote a letter to Gehlot recently complaining that the minister was exerting pressure on the officers and employees of the agriculture department through the joint director of agriculture to pay the bribe.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday ordered a CID into ascertain the genuineness of the complaint lodged against his Cabinet colleague N Chaluvarayaswamy accusing him of bribery.

The decision was taken after Siddaramaiah discussed the case with Home Minister G Parameshwara.

It emerged on Monday that Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot's office, on August 1, asked Chief Secretary Vandita Sharma to act on a complaint purportedly written by seven assistant directors from Mandya accusing Agriculture Minister N Chaluvarayaswamy of mounting pressure to pay him Rs 6-8 lakh.

According to Chaluvarayaswamy, the complaint on the basis of which Governor has sought action is fake. When DH contacted assistant directors from Mandya, they declined to comment.

"I've asked the police to inquire...Chaluvarayaswamy has said it's a fake letter. The joint director (of agriculture) has also given a statement and a complaint. I've asked the police to bring out the truth," Siddaramaiah told reporters.

Meanwhile, a team of Congress leaders petitioned Parameshwara and state police chief Alok Mohan to act against trying to "defame" Chaluvarayaswamy. They sought strict action against those who submitted the "fake" letter to the Governor's office.

"Agriculture officials have clarified that they didn't write any letter against the minister. A fake letter was created in the name of officers," the Congress leaders stated in their petition. They also claimed that attempts are being made to bring disrepute to both Chaluvarayaswamy and the Congress government.

Udupi case: CM defends CID probe

Reacting to the BJP's claim that the Congress government wants to "hush up" Udupi's 'secret video recording' case involving college girls, Siddaramaiah said he handed over the matter to the CID because there was a need for a higher level inquiry. "The BJP has a problem even when we order a CID probe! Did they hush up all cases that they handed over to the CID when they were in power?" he said.