In a first, Bengaluru police book ED officers for assault; Karnataka High Court stays FIR

States — especially those in South India — have long alleged that the BJP, which is in power at the Centre, was using Central probe agencies like the CBI and the ED to target non-BJP governments.

Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka have even gone to the extent of withdrawing sanctions to the CBI to probe some or all cases.

Also Read: Telangana withdraws consent to CBI to probe cases in the state

The case

The Karnataka FIR was based on a complaint from YB Ashwatha Narayan, the director of the Kolar-Chikkaballapura District Co-operative Milk Producers Union Limited (KOMUL).

He alleged that the ED officials — among other things — assaulted him with a PVC pipe and threatened him with dire consequences.

He added that he was forced to assume a sitting-in-a-chair-like position while they were questioning him in a case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) at their Shantinagar office in Bengaluru recently.

The FIR was registered on 24 January by the Bengaluru City Police based on the complaint by Narayan, said to be a close associate of the Malur MLA and Congress leader KY Nanje Gowda.

The accused named in the FIR were ED Deputy Director Manoj Mithal, Assistant Director Ajay Kumar Vaidya, and two other persons at the ED office.

They were booked under Sections 324 (assault using dangerous weapons), 323 (assault), and 506 (criminal intimidation), read with 34 (common intention) of the IPC.

However, the Karnataka High Court on 2 February stayed further investigation into the case till the next date of the hearing.

The court stayed the FIR after the counsel for the ED filed a petition seeking to quash the FIR contending that one section involved against the officials was not applicable while the others were non-cognizable sections mentioned.

Also Read: TN Vigilance Department arrests ED officer for taking bribe

The complaint

In his written complaint to the Wilson Garden police on 24 January, Narayana alleged that ED officials conducted raids at his house from 6 am on 8 January to 1 pm on 9 January, and threatened to arrest him and his family members.

The officials seized ₹8.5 lakh from his house along with two mobile phones and other documents, and forcibly obtained statements from him, he alleged.

On 18 January, Narayana submitted a requisition for the return of his money and mobile phones. However, on 21 January, he received a summons from ED Assistant Director Ajay Kumar Vaidya.

Upon going through the summons, he got to know that they were served on 18 January. Narayana contacted his advocate Byrareddy and they sought a different date for questioning.

However, the ED officials asked him to appear before them on 23 January, and he presented himself to them around noon that day, he said in his complaint.

Narayana said he was made to sit at the ED office until 2 pm, after which the officials said they were going for lunch.

So, Narayana went for lunch as well and came back around 3 pm. However, they did not do any questioning until 6.40 pm, after which he was summoned inside and quizzed until 8.40 pm.

During the questioning, Deputy Director Manoj Mithal and Assistant Director Ajay Kumar Vaidya made Narayana assume a sitting-chair position without a chair, he alleged.

As they threw questions at him one after another, Ajay Kumar slapped him repeatedly, he alleged.

After this, the two officials assaulted him with their hands and a PVC pipe, leaving him with injuries to his face, hands, and also back, which resulted in bruises and blood clots, he said.

The ED officials also forced Narayana to admit that the money he had at his house was given by Nanje Gowda and KOMUL Director Manjunath Reddy, he said in his complaint.

He alleged that they threatened to frame him and members of his family in other cases if he did not make this “admission”, he said.

When Narayana did not give in to their demands, they allegedly again assaulted him by hand and the PVC pipe and later threatened him with dire consequences, making him sign a piece of paper that he was not allowed to read, he said.

Around 8.40 pm, the officials told Narayana that he had to appear before them whenever he was summoned, or else they would pick him up from wherever he was.

He was then released, after which he took the help of a relative and headed to Chintamani in Kolar.

On the way, he sought treatment at a government hospital in KR Puram, after which he filed a complaint with the jurisdictional Wilson Garden Police Station.

Also Read: Siddaramaiah Cabinet withdraws sanction for CBI probe against DKS

What the ED says

Meanwhile, the ED officials, on learning about the FIR against them, filed a petition with the Karnataka High Court on 30 January for quashing the FIR.

The counsel for ED submitted that the officials were only doing their job and that Narayana had filed a false and frivolous complaint against the ED officials with a mala fide intention and out of personal grudge.

The officials also contended that the entire questioning session was under CCTV surveillance and the summoned person was even served food and water.

Narayana was also made to read both from the paper and on the computer screen before he signed anything, which has all been captured on CCTV surveillance, contended the ED officials.

In their submission to the high court, they also said ED officials in Bengaluru conducted search-and-seizure operations at the house and office of the Malur MLA KY Nanje Gowda and others based on an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) dated 30 November, 2023.

The case pertained to the illegal allotment of ₹150 crore worth of government land to ineligible individuals and fictitious documents being used in the process.

During the search-and-seizure action, the ED officials stumbled upon one more scam — related to the ongoing recruitment at KOMUL.

It was ascertained that the Recruitment Committee under the leadership of MLA KY Nanje Gowda and other involved persons manipulated the entire recruitment process, according to the ED.

Besides the ₹8.5 lakh recovered from Narayana’s house during the subsequent search proceedings, the ED officials also apparently recovered crucial documentary and digital evidence, which established his active and elaborate role in the recruitment scam, the counsel for ED submitted to the high court.

Also Read: Tamil Nadu withdraws general consent for CBI probe

The KOMUL recruitment irregularities

In September 2023, KOMUL announced the recruitment of 81 positions and conducted a written exam for them through Mangalore University.

The recruitment process — comprising of the written test (85 percent weightage) and interview (15 percent weightage) — happened under a Recruitment Committee comprising five members led by MLA KY Nanje Gowda, the chairman of KOMUL.

Others on the committee were KN Nagaraj, who sits on KOMUL’s Board of Directors; Lingaraju, who is the additional registrar from the Cooperative Department; Karnataka Milk Federation representative Dr BP Suresh; and KOMUL Managing Director Gopala Murthy.

Based on the written test results, 329 candidates were interviewed from 14 to 16 December and 18 December.

The final list of 75 candidates was approved by the board on 19 December, and the selected candidates were subsequently sent for training without publicising the final result.

The ED found out that the Recruitment Committee and the involved persons manipulated the entire recruitment process — from the written test to the interviews.

Evidence gathered during the investigation revealed the sale of seats for money and that candidates were accommodated based on the reference of certain politicians, who were also paid some amount.

The committee allegedly manipulated the results by awarding poor marks to deserving candidates. The signatures of invigilators were forged on the replaced OMR sheets.

Interview marks were manipulated and changed again and again for the selection of certain candidates, which led to genuine candidates being deprived of selection.

Evidence in the form of loose sheets mentioning amounts collected from the successful candidates was also found and seized.

The office-bearers of the KOMUL including MD KN Gopala Murthy, Director YB Ashwath Narayana, Manager Nagesh, the registrar of Mangalore University, private persons engaged for the evaluation of the OMR sheets, and some successful candidates apparently admitted that these irregularities happened in the recruitment process.

During the search operations, incriminating documents, indicating the MLA favoured certain candidates for money, were recovered and seized.

Certain handwritten slips were found, containing the names of the candidates who were selected in the said recruitment exam and certain amounts were found written against them.

During the recording of statements under Section 17 of the PMLA, Narayana apparently admitted having taken ₹80 lakh from five candidates for their selection and also admitted to manipulation of the interview process.