Heavy Industries Minister HD Kumaraswamy | (Photo: PTI)
ADGP M Chandra Sekhar, who heads the SIT investigating illegal mining cases, on Friday filed a police complaint against Union minister HD Kumaraswamy and his son Nikhil Kumaraswamy for allegedly threatening him to probe the former CM.
The investigation against Kumaraswamy is related to allegations that he illegally approved the lease of 550 acres of mines to Sri Sai Venkateswara Minerals (SSVM) in Bellary district in violation of the law when he was the chief minister of Karnataka from 2006 to 2008.
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He is now the Union minister for steel and heavy industries.
“The SIT, after preparing the investigation report and obtaining the material evidence and material to prosecute the accused (Kumaraswamy), has written to the Governor of Karnataka seeking sanction to prosecute the accused Sh HD Kumaraswamy on 21/11/2023,” Sekhar. said in his complaint lodged at the Sanjay Nagar police station.
Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, in his letter dated July 29, 2024, sought some clarifications after reading the report, he said.
This communication along with other documents reached the Special Investigation Team (SIT) after 11 days on the night of August 8. The explanation sought was sent on August 19 and the governor returned the file on August 29 with a request to have it translated from Kannada to English, said the – ADGP.
“The SIT is one step away from prosecuting this accused Kumaraswamy,” said Sekhar.
Kumaraswamy, who is out on bail, addressed a series of press conferences on September 28 “and made false and malicious allegations and threats against me,” he said.
Sekhar suspects that this was done so that he and the SIT could continue with the cases against Kumaraswamy.
“The defendant, with a pre-arranged plan to postpone the SIT investigation against him, insulted me and threatened to transfer me to another district.
“Apparently, the accused is threatening me by threatening to remove me from Karnataka and cause problems to my family members. The accused by his behavior has threatened me and my family with harm so that I stop and prevent me from continuing to prosecute the accused. This act of the accused is an offense punishable under section 224 BNS 2023,” said the ADGP in the complaint built.
(Only the headline and image for this report may have been reused by Business Standard staff; other content is automatically generated from the trade feed.)
First published: October 12 2024 | 6:50 AM IST
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