Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Dec 13: If reports are to be believed, people close to chief minister (CM) Siddaramaiah, are apprehensive about the black money conversion case gripping a minister believed to be very close to the CM in its hold. It is said that Enforcement Directorate (ED) is preparing to grill the minister concerned, who is believed to be having close links with Jayachandra, who has been held after recovery of huge amount of cash in his residence.

It is said that during the interrogation of project officer of Karnataka State Road Development Corporation, S C Jayachandra, his wife and son, facts about the involvement of the said minister in money laundering as above came to light. The ED may, it is believed, summon the minister for questioning anytime now.

Siddaramaih

If the minister is questioned by the directorate, it might create a storm in the state politics. Therefore, the ED officials are busy doing groundwork before questioning the minister, it is being claimed. As per information, Jayachandra, his wife, Bharati, and son, Trijesh, have explained about pressure exerted by the minister on them and also about direct supply of cash by the officer to the minister.

It is said that under immense pressure from the minister, Jayachandra sought help from a contractor to convert demonetised notes into new currency. A diary recovered during verification by officials was found to contain names of engineers, IAS and IPS officers and also the minister referred above. At the same time, the Congress, which will face discomfiture if the misdeeds of the minister become public, is said to be preparing to hit back at BJP by bringing into the open wrongdoings by BJP leaders in connivance with these officials. Chikkarayappa is said to be close to BJP leaders too. For this, the ministers and leaders are seeking help from Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB), as per information. It is said that for this very purpose, after the raid by CBI and ED, ACB raided the residence of managing director of Kaveri Neeravari Nigam Ltd, Chikkarayappa, and recovered several documents.

The directorate, which is pooling records and gathering information about various assets owned by the family, is likely to impound Benami properties. The officials have also sealed the bank accounts and lockers of the family. The officials reportedly found three flats owned by Jayachandra, valued at seveal crores of rupees.