Former Minister Nagendra remanded in ED custody for five more days 

Former Minister for Scheduled Tribes Welfare B. Nagendra has been remanded in the custody of the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) for five more days till July 22.

Former Minister for Scheduled Tribes Welfare B. Nagendra has been remanded in the custody of the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) for five more days till July 22.

Meanwhile, Basanagouda Daddal, chairman of the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation Ltd., who was also raided by the ED earlier, appeared before it for questioning on Thursday. Mr. Nagendra’s wife, Manjula, was also questioned for several hours on Wednesday.

Mr. Nagendra was arrested by the ED in connection with the scam at the corporation on July 12. His custody ended on Thursday and he was produced before the Special Court of Magistrate for criminal cases against former and present MPs and MLAs.

The ED sought his custody for six more days and it was opposed by the former Minister’s counsel. The court granted the agency his custody for five more days. 

“During the search operations at B Nagendra’s and Basanagouda Daddal’s (corporation’s chairman) premises, ED recovered incriminating documents linking them to the handling of diverted funds during recent general elections. Additionally, associates closely connected to B Nagendra were implicated in fund diversion and cash management. Incriminating evidence related to the handling of these illicit funds was also discovered at the residence of the corporation’s chairman,  Basanagouda Daddal”, the ED had said in a statement on Wednesday.

The ED said that its probe revealed that approximately ₹90 crore was diverted to 18 fake accounts in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

It claimed to have found evidence to indicate the diverted funds were used during the general elections, including to buy significant quantity of liquor just before the elections.