Sidda buried Valmiki Corporation fraud case, alleges BJP

Bengaluru: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA and Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R. Ashok on Saturday alleged that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah buried the fraudulent transactions in the bank accounts of Maharishi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation by favouring an investigation by a special investigation team (SIT) under criminal investigation department (CID). In a bid to hush up the fraud, the Chief Minister passed the bucks on officials concerned, he said.

While the Chief Minister favoured the SIT investigation, the Union Bank of India where Valmiki Corporation had its bank accounts, demanded an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Ashok asked at a press conference here, “What was the Chief Minister doing when the fraud took place in the Valmiki Corporation? Why was the same officer continued in the same post even after his track record was exposed? What made B. Nagendra resign from the post of minister for scheduled tribes welfare? If the minister had no role in the corruption, why did he resign?”

He alleged Nagendra and Congress MLA Basabagouda Daddal, chairman of the Valmiki Corporation garnered funds and helped Congress to spend it on election expenditure in Telangana during the Lok Sabha elections held in May.

“After the election, the Congress abandoned Nagendra and Daddal. What is the status of investigation into the alleged 40 per cent commission against the previous BJP government? Fifteen months have elapsed but the investigation into the allegations has not yet been completed,” he added.