Desperate measures by CM Siddaramaiah, says K'taka BJP on FIR against ED officials

Bengaluru, July 24 (IANS) Karnataka BJP on Wednesday alleged that the act of lodging an FIR against two Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials was a desperate measure by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to save himself in the tribal welfare scam. 

Taking to the X on Wednesday, Karnataka BJP stated that the official named Kallesh B, who filed a police complaint against the ED, was suspended by the state government last month on corruption charges.

Upon learning that Kallesh had revealed information about the involvement of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar during the ED investigation, the Congress party started the drama, the party said.

"The Congress government while misusing its power got the false complaint filed by Kallesh, a tainted official. By influencing and luring, the Congress is forcing him to say that the ED officials are forcing him to name the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister," BJP said.

“We demand that CM Siddaramaiah, instead of clinging to his seat, should take moral responsibility for the Valmiki Tribal Welfare Board and Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scandals, resign from his position as Chief Minister, and cooperate with the CBI investigation,” BJP stated.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday charged that the ED officials threatened the former Tribal Welfare Development Board Managing Director B. Kallesh to mention his name in the alleged case.

“They (ED) pressured him (officer Kallesh) with arrest, subjected him to mental pressure and coerced him with life threat only to implicate me legally in the case. Kallesh filed a police complaint. In the complaint, he had detailed his ordeal,” the Chief Minister said while staging a protest at the Vidhana Soudha, condemning the alleged high handedness of the ED.

The Karnataka Police on Monday registered an FIR against two ED officers who are probing the Tribal Welfare Board case. The FIR was registered by Wilson Garden police station in Bengaluru based on the police complaint by B. Kallesh, former Managing Director of the Tribal Welfare Board and incumbent Additional Director in the Social Welfare Department.