Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials conducted raids on Wednesday morning at the residences of former Scheduled Tribe Welfare minister B Nagendra and Congress MLA Basanagouda Daddal in Ballari and other locations.
The raids occurred a day after both politicians were questioned by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the alleged multi-crore scam at the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation.
ED officials, accompanied by the Central Reserve Police Force, raided Nagendra’s house in Sadashivanagar and over five other locations in Bengaluru, including New BEL Road and Yelahanka. Simultaneously, Nagendra’s residence in Ballari was also raided, and his personal assistants, Vijaykumar and Chetan, were taken into custody.
Three ED teams, along with CRPF security personnel, arrived in Ballari without notifying local police, but adequate security measures were arranged around the MLA’s house. The scam came to light following the suicide of Chandrashekhar, the corporation’s accounts superintendent, on May 26 in Shivamogga. His suicide note mentioned several corporation officials and included the word “minister.”
In response, the Karnataka government formed an SIT to investigate the scam, and Suresh NR, president of the Anti-Corruption Forum, filed a complaint with the ED, requesting a probe. Nagendra resigned from Siddaramaiah’s cabinet after the scam became public.