Ex-Minister B Nagendra in Custody Over Karnataka Corporation Money-Laundering Probe

Former Minister B Nagendra was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate as part of a money-laundering investigation related to irregularities in the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation. The probe includes unauthorized transfers of funds and involves multiple locations across Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra.

In a significant development, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) apprehended former Minister B Nagendra on Friday, as part of an ongoing money-laundering investigation tied to alleged irregularities within the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation Limited. According to official sources, Nagendra was detained from his residence and taken to the ED office for questioning.

Amidst mounting allegations, the Congress MLA, who resigned from his post as Scheduled Tribes Welfare Minister on June 6, protested his innocence, telling reporters, ''I'm being brought from my home...I don't know anything.'' The ED carried out extensive searches over the last two days, targeting approximately 20 locations in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra, including premises associated with Nagendra and ruling Congress MLA Basanagouda Daddal, the Corporation's Chairman.

This investigation follows the suicide of accounts superintendent Chandrasekharan P on May 26, who left a note alleging the unauthorized transfer of Rs 187 crore from the Corporation's accounts. His note implicated multiple individuals, including the Corporation's suspended Managing Director J G Padmanabh and Union Bank of India's Chief Manager Suchismita Rawal. A Special Investigation Team headed by ADGP Manish Kharbikar, under the CID, has been constituted by the state government to lead the probe.

(With inputs from agencies.)