Sack minister B Nagendra, hand over case to CBI: Karnataka BJP days after official’s suicide

On May 26, Chandrashekaran P, a superintendent in the corporation died by suicide, alleging that he was forced to divert Rs 94.73 crore from the corporation’s primary account to another account. In his death note, he had blamed three officials corporation Managing Director J G Padmanabha, Accounts Officer Parashuram G Duragannavar, and Shuchismitha Ravul, chief manager at Union Bank of India. The Karnataka government suspended the two officials on Wednesday.

Addressing a news conference, Vijayendra alleged that the funds were diverted to Telangana. “Without minister B Nagendra’s consent, three or four officials cannot transfer funds to Telangana,” he said, alleging that the money was funnelled for the Lok Sabha elections. “There is a conspiracy behind this,” he said.

The BJP’s demand, he said, was to sack the minister without any delay. “These inter-state transactions should be investigated. CID or SIT cannot investigate this. The case should be handed over to CBI,” Vijayendra said, warning of intense agitations across the state if the demands are not met.

Meanwhile, a few BJP workers attached to ST Morcha, who attempted to lay siege to Siddaramaiah’s residence over the issue, were stopped by the police and detained.

On the allegation of inter-state transfer of money, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said that the money was transferred from the primary account to another account. “From there, the money was moved to four-five accounts. We cannot say anything until the investigation is complete,” he said.

The BJP has drawn parallels with a contractor’s suicide in 2022 due to which then rural development and panchayat raj minister K S Eshwarappa was forced to resign. Responding to a question on the same, Parameshwara said that while the contractor had named Eshwarappa in the death note, the officer had not named any minister.

Two FIRs were registered following Chandrashekaran’s death. While the first was against the three named in his note, the second was registered Tuesday against six bank officials for the alleged fraud.

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