ED searches MUDA offices, BJP demands CM Siddaramaiah’s resignation

Bengaluru: Enforcement Directorate officials on Friday conducted search operations at the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) office in Mysuru, two weeks after registering an enforcement case information report (ECIR) on complaints of irregularities to the government body in the allocation of housing plots.

ED’s ECIR, equivalent to a police first information report (FIR), came days after the Lokayukta police in Mysuru registered an FIR against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and three others in a case of alleged illegal allotment of 14 housing plots in the city to his wife Parvathy. The FIR, registered following the orders of a court, named Siddaramaiah as the first accused and his wife as the second. Brother-in-law Mallikarjunaswamy and Devaraju, the landowner who sold the plot, have been named as the third and fourth defendants, respectively.

ED officials examined MUDA and revenue department records and sought clarifications from the commissioner and other officials during their search operations. CRPF provided security during the search and denied permission to the public to enter the MUDA office. Search operations will continue Saturday, according to people familiar with the matter.

Soon after news of the ED operations broke, the opposition BJP stepped up its demand for Siddaramaiah’s resignation. Leader of Opposition R Ashoka said the ED raids followed statements by Congress leaders themselves that illegal transactions worth billions of crores had taken place in MUDA. If Congress was unhappy with ED’s action now, it was free to move the courts, he said. BJP state president BY Vijayendra expressed confidence that ED would be able to unearth the scam and pursue conviction of those responsible for the scandal.