Lokayukta police trace transactions indicating that she accepted Rs 70 lakh from bribe of Rs 87 crore collected by tainted minister from a software company for help to illegally acquire land
Lokayukta police trace transactions indicating that she accepted Rs70 lakh from bribe of Rs 87 crore collected by tainted minister from a software company for help to illegally acquire landEnergy minister Shobha Karandlaje's problems seem to be spiraling out of control and she is now being linked to the land scam, which landed Katta Subramanya Naidu and his son Katta Jagadish in jail. The charge sheet has mentioned that Katta Subramanya lent her Rs 70 lakh from a bribe he received from a city-based software company.
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a case of money laundering against Yeddyurappa and Shobha. File picAccording to investigations, Itasca had paid Rs 87 crore to Indu Builders and Developers, a fictitious company, run by the Kattas, and the money transaction is a quid pro quo deal between the Kattas and the IT company. While tracing the transaction, the Lokayukta police found that a part went to Shobha.
Katta Subramanya and Katta Jagadish are accused of taking the bribe from Itasca Software for helping to illegally acquire 325 acres of land through Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board. The father-son duo is currently in judicial custody, while the Lokayukta special court is hearing the case.
While Katta Subramanya was forced to resign as a minister after being prosecuted in the case, Katta Jagadish, who is a councilor in the BBMP, was caught red-handed while attempting to bribe a witness in the case. "It looks like a clandestine deal and we issued notice to Shobha seeking explanation. According to her, it was a loan between two individuals, but we suspect there is more into it. The case in the court and I can't discuss details at this stage," said a senior official in the Lokayukta police.
Shobha's explanation however, was that she requested a loan of Rs 70 lakh from Subramanya Naidu, who paid her through cheque. The same was enchased at the RT Nagar branch of the Federal Bank and interestingly, repaid within a few days.
International reachShe further explained that she had availed the loan from State Bank of India (SBI) and paid Rs 70 lakh to a company named G V Infrastructure Limited at the behest of Subramanya Naidu. Interestingly, an SBI branch figures is the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) investigation while building a case of money laundering against former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and Shobha. The ED is believed to have traced incriminating money transfers to multiple accounts outside the country from the branch in mention. Yeddyurappa was forced to step down as CM after the Lokayukta report on illegal mining indicted him last month.
He has been embroiled in a slew of corruption cases including illegal de-notification of government land and irregularities in awarding civil works contract of an irrigation project to a private company. Shobha's name was not mentioned in any of the earlier cases and cropped up for the very first time in the alleged money laundering case.
While the Lokayukta police have filed an FIR against Yeddyurappa in the irrigation project case, summons has been issued and he is required to appear before the court in connection with the de-notification case on August 27. While Yeddyurappa and Shobha were unavailable for comment, one of her secretaries said the minister didn't want to talk about the issue as it was subjudice.
