Former minister and MLA B Nagendra
Former minister and MLA B NagendraPhoto | Express

Special court grants bail to Nagendra

Nagendra, who is Ballari MLA, is currently lodged at Bengaluru Central Prison in Parappana Agrahara, and is expected to be released on Tuesday.
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BENGALURU: A special court on Monday granted bail to former Karnataka minister B Nagendra, who was arrested by the ED in connection with the multi-crore scam in Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation.

Santhosh Ganjanan Bhat, judge of the Special Court to try cases against sitting and former MPs/MLAs, granted bail to Nagendra. The court directed to execute a personal bond for Rs 2 lakh with two sureties. The bail conditions included that he should not threaten and tamper the prosecution witnesses or the complainant; not evade the investigation and to appear before the investigation officer whenever called for investigation.

Nagendra, who is Ballari MLA, is currently lodged at Bengaluru Central Prison in Parappana Agrahara, and is expected to be released on Tuesday. Nagendra, who was then serving as Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Scheduled Tribes Welfare in the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government, resigned after the alleged scam came to light. He was arrested by ED officials on July 12, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED in its charge-sheet had termed Nagendra as the “mastermind” of the scam, which is also being probed by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the state government and CBI.

Former minister and MLA B Nagendra
Former Minister B Nagendra prime accused in ED chargesheet

The ED had stated that the corporation’s account was moved to the MG Road Branch without proper authorisation. Rs 187 crore, including Rs 43.33 crore from the State Treasury under the ‘Ganga Kalyana’ Scheme, was deposited without following proper procedure and in violation of government guidelines. Further, the central agency stated that the funds were subsequently siphoned off through multiple shell accounts and converted into cash and bullion. The ED charged that an amount of Rs 20.19 crore from the diverted funds was used to support a candidate contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha election from the Ballari constituency, as well as for the personal expenses of Nagendra.

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