Karnataka: Two officials held for illegal transfer of government funds

Bengaluru: Two senior officers of KRIDL were placed under suspension and investigation into illegal transfer of government funds of Rs 55 crores to accounts of private firms entrusted to CID by rural development and panchayat raj minister H K Patil on Thursday. The accused are Chief Finance Officer of KRIDL Dr Veeranagouda Patil and his deputy Prashanth Madala and Mr Shnarachari. Last week, former chief minister and state JD (S) president H D Kumaraswamy had alleged that the Congress government was illegally transferring funds to private accounts in order to use them during forthcoming elections to the Legislative Assembly.

 He had also alleged that around Rs 55 crores was transferred from Indian Oversees Bank to a dormant account of Vijaya Bank and later was transferred to a private account held by Shaw Exports, Koramangala. Mr Kumaraswamy also charged that similar transaction were witnessed during the previous BJP government had the present government had buried the case.

Meanwhile, officers of RDPR stated that the trio had misused fixed deposits of KRIDL in Indian Oversees Bank, Mangaluru. The money was transferred to a dormant account in Vijaya Bank, Koramangala, While Vijaya Bank officials expressed their surprise over such huge amount of money being transacted through an inactive account, the internalaudit confirmed irregularities in the transaction. The money was finally transferred to Shaw Exports account. Officers said the department has ordered an inquiry into all fixed deposits of RDPR department.