ED conducts raids in MUDA land scam case

NT Correspondent Bengaluru: The Enforcement Directorate on Friday conducted searches in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) linked money laundering case in which it has booked Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his family members and others, official sources said. The MUDA office in Mysuru and some other locations are being raided by the federal probe agency officials along with an escort of central paramilitary force CRPF, the sources said. No premises of the CM or his family are being covered, they said. ED officials, as per the sources, are looking at MUDA documents at the Mysuru office in presence of the officials. They may seize the required documents as part of their investigation. The federal agency few weeks back had filed an enforcement case information report (ECIR) to book the CM and others taking cognisance of a recent Lokayukta FIR. Siddaramaiah is facing Lokayukta and ED probes into alleged irregularities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife by the MUDA. Siddaramaiah's wife Parvathi B M, brother-inlaw Mallikarjuna Swamy, Devaraju from whom Mallikarjuna Swamy purchased land and gifted it to Parvathi -- and others are named as other accused in the case by the two probe agencies. In the MUDA site allotment case, it is alleged that 14 compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah's wife in an upmarket area in Mysuru (Vijayanagar Layout 3rd and 4th stages), which had higher property value as compared to the location of her land which had been "acquired" by MUDA.

The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where it developed a residential layout. Under the controversial scheme, MUDA allotted 50 per cent of developed land to the land losers in lieu of undeveloped land acquired from them for forming residential layouts. It is alleged that Parvathi had no legal title over this 3.16 acres of land at survey number 464 of Kasare village, Kasaba hobli of Mysuru taluk. After the controversy broke out, Parvathi had announced that she was returning the allotted plots to MUDA. The CM had denied any wrongdoing by him or his family, saying the opposition was "scared" of him and had noted that it is the first such "political case" against him. Following the controversy, MUDA chairman K Marigowda had also quit from his post on Wednesday, citing health reasons