Tribal Welfare Board case: SIT seizes Rs 10 cr, one more held

Bengaluru, June 29 (IANS) The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the multi-crore Tribal Welfare Board case has recovered Rs 10 crore from the accounts of gold shops, bars, and other commercial establishments that had allegedly been transferred from the Board's account, sources said on Saturday.

Police sources said Rs 10 crore was seized from 193 bank accounts and the SIT arrested one Srinivas on Saturday.

The funds were transferred into bank accounts of gold shop owners and bar owners, from where they were withdrawn after giving small commissions, sources said.

Srinivas has also been accused of creating fake accounts in the names of other people without their knowledge; and helping the accused carry out transactions.

Four complaints in this regard have been filed in Bengaluru by people in whose names the fake accounts were created, and all four FIRs have been transferred to the SIT, sources stated.

To date, Rs 28 crore has allegedly been recovered in the case.

Meanwhile, former minister and BJP leader B. Sriramulu has staged a protest opposite the District Commissioner’s office in Bellary with his supporters, demanding action in connection with the scandal.

Sriramulu has submitted three demands to the state government.

“First, the state government should recover all the money transferred into fake accounts from the Board’s account. Second, former minister B. Nagendra, who resigned recently, must be arrested, and third, the state government should hand over the case to the CBI,” he stated on Saturday.

“If CM Siddaramaiah fails to ensure this, let him resign from his post and go home. I will not allow the funds reserved for the development of STs to be misused,” Sriramulu stated.

The Karnataka BJP had staged a statewide protest condemning the handling of the tribal welfare case by the state government.

The scam in the corporation came to light following the suicide of Chandrashekaran (50), who was working as an Account Superintendent in the Tribal Welfare Board.

He was allegedly pressured to move large sums of money to various illegal accounts and committed suicide because of it.

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