ED searches MUDA offices, BJP demands CM Siddaramaiah's resignation

Bengaluru: Enforcement Directorate officials on Friday conducted search operations at Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) office in Mysuru, two weeks after registering an enforcement case information report (ECIR) into complaints of irregularities in the government body in the allotment of housing plots.

ED's ECIR, equivalent to a police first information report (FIR), came about within days of the Lokayukta Police in Mysuru registering an FIR against chief minister Siddaramaiah and three others in a case of alleged unlawful allotment of 14 housing plots in the city to his wife Parvathy. The FIR, registered following a court's orders, named Siddaramaiah as the first accused and his wife as the second. Brother-in-law Mallikarjunaswamy and Devaraju, the landowner who sold the plot, have been named the third and fourth accused, respectively.

ED officials examined MUDA as well as revenue department's records and sought clarification from the commissioner and other officials during their search operations. CRPF provided security during the search and denied permission to public into the MUDA office. The search operations will continue on Saturday, according to people familiar with the matter.


Soon after the news of the ED's operations broke, the opposition BJP stepped up its demand for Siddaramaiah's resignation. Opposition leader R Ashoka said ED's raids followed statements from the Congress leaders themselves that illegal transactions worth thousands of crores had taken place in MUDA. If Congress was unhappy about ED's action now, it was free to move the courts, he said. BJP state president BY Vijayendra expressed confidence that ED would be able to unearth the scam and pursue conviction of those responsible for the scandal.