BANGALORE: The state government is likely to order CBI probe into alleged fake bonds issued by Ramanagara-Channapatana development authority through three nationalized banks.
The quantum of fake bond scam is estimated to be nearly Rs 10 crore. Urban development minister Vinay Kumar Sorake and home minister K J George told legislative council and assembly on Wednesday that CBI probe may be ordered after discussing with chief minister Siddaramaiah.
The allegation is that the authority commissioner in collusion with three nationalized banks in few middlemen have allegedly misappropriated Rs 9.9 crore by issuing fake bonds in the authority regions. Similar scam had surfaced
Opposition leader H D Kumaraswamy in assembly and C Puttanna (JDS) in legislative council, who raised the issue, said the authority had kept funds of Rs 9.5 crore in a public sector bank and Rs 40 lakh in a private bank but transferred the amount to another public sector bank which offered a better interest rate but now says it has no such deposits.
Since the alleged embezzlement is to the tune of more than Rs two crore, a probe into it should be handed over to the CBI as per RBI norms, the JD(S) leaders argued.
“As the issue involved different nationalized banks, government was considering a CBI than CID probe,” Sorake said.
The government on Tuesday announced a probe by CID into alleged misappropriation of Rs 5 crore of Mandya Urban Development Authority. Sorake said MUDA Commissioner H S Shivaram has been arrested in connection with the case. The police have also arrested Congress functionary Kebbahalli Anand and his accomplice Nagalingaswamy. District police chief Bhushan G Borase said efforts are on to nab another prime accused, Hemmanahalli Chandrashekar.
Meanwhile, at least five persons, belonging to a pro-Kannada organizations, who damaged the office furniture and notice boards at Ramanagaram, Chennapatna development authority on Wednesday morning were arrested.
Ramanagaram police have registered a case of rioting and damage to public property after a group of over 25 activists barged into the office and created a scene. “We had booked a case against the Authority Chairman for misappropriation of funds and are in the process of investigation, when the incident happened,” a police officer said.
