ED forcing accused to name CM & Dy CM in tribal welfare case to destabilise Karnataka govt: Congress

Bengaluru, July 18 (IANS) Karnataka Congress on Thursday said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is forcing the accused to name the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar in the alleged tribal welfare board case to destabilise the state government.

“We have a clear cut and solid information that the ED is trying to force and pressurise the accused to take the names of Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister in the tribal welfare board case,” Minister for Health Dinesh Gundu Rao said while addressing a joint press conference with Priyank Kharge, K.J. George, Krishna Byre Gowda and Santhosh Lad in Bengaluru.

He said that the ED is also coercing them to give false statements that the funds were used in the elections in other states.

“The ED is also assuring the accused that they (the investigating agency) will safeguard them. They are telling them to put all the blame on Congress. The agency is also threatening them that if they budge there will be consequences,” Rao said.

He said that the ED is blackmailing and siding with the BJP to weaken the elected government and topple it. “We are appealing to the Central government not to disgrace the democracy and the elected governments,” he said.

He said that the state government has formed the SIT and the CBI is also probing the case.

“One of the Karnataka ministers has resigned taking moral responsibility. And all of a sudden the ED jumps into the probe. The Central investigating agency has taken no action on the cases which took place during the tenure of the BJP,” Minister for Health Dinesh Gundu Rao said.

He said that the investigation by the ED is a ‘political conspiracy’.

“We will not sit idea. The agency is used to finish off Congress and its leaders. They have come to Karnataka to create an insecure atmosphere. We do not trust or have faith in the ED. Instead of carrying out investigation, it is indulging in murder of democracy.”

He said that the ED is insulting the people of Karnataka and the country. The agency is misusing its powers and they are only targeting the opposition. Around 95 per cent of cases are lodged against the opposition. What more evidence is required to call the ED the political wing of the BJP? Minister Rao asked.

Minister for Revenue Krishna Byre Gowda said that the ED does not have the objective of bringing out the truth.

“They are trying to record false statements. The ED has arrested Nagendra and is questioning many persons including officers. They are intimidating people and forcing them to give false statements,” he added.

Minister Gowda said that the Supreme Court had reprimanded ED in Soren and Kejriwal arrest cases.

Minister for RDPR, IT and BT Priyank Kharge questioned why the ED is not probing the State BJP President who has cases against him. “Why it is not probing former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa,” he asked.