NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached an additional 34 properties valued at over Rs 40 crore as part of its investigation into the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) land scam, bringing the total asset value attached to over Rs 440 crore.
The investigation was initiated following an FIR filed by the Karnataka Lokayukta, focusing on a large-scale scam related to site allotments by MUDA officials.
“The investigation uncovered a pattern of routing and layering of illegal payments received by GT Dinesh Kumar, former MUDA commissioner. The ill-gotten gains were used to acquire properties under the names of Kumar’s relatives and associates. Furthermore, illegal allotments of 31 MUDA sites were also traced back to Kumar,” stated the agency on Monday.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his wife are among those under investigation. Previously, the ED alleged that Siddaramaiah leveraged his position to secure 14 sites under his wife’s name, BM Parvathi, as compensation for three acres and 16 guntas of land taken by MUDA.
A significant number of sites, apart from the 14 awarded to BM Parvathi, were reportedly allotted illegally as compensation to real estate developers, who then sold these sites for profit, creating unaccounted cash.
