• Former MUDA Commissioner G.T. Dinesh Kumar taken into custody by ED
• Court orders FIR against D.B. Natesh, the other former MUDA Commissioner

Bengaluru: In a significant development more than a year after the mega Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) 50:50 sites scam broke out, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested former MUDA Commissioner G.T. Dinesh Kumar in connection with the scam.

According to sources, the ED, which has intensified its probe into the multi-crore MUDA sites scam, had issued a notice to Dinesh Kumar asking him to appear before the agency for questioning on Monday (Sept. 15).

Accordingly, Dinesh Kumar appeared before the ED at its Bengaluru Office in Shantinagar, where he was grilled. 

He was later arrested by the ED and produced before the Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Court in Bengaluru.

Dinesh Kumar is accused of allotting 14 sites to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s family members as per the 50:50 alternative sites allotment scheme of the then MUDA (now Mysuru Development Authority — MDA).

Following the unearthing of the scam, which also involved illegal allotment of hundreds of other sites, the Government constituted a One-Man Commission headed retired High Court Justice P.N. Desai to probe the scam.

Lokayukta Police too had registered a case and had quizzed CM Siddaramaiah, his wife B.M. Parvathi, brother-in-law B.M. Mallikarjunaswamy and several others in the case. After investigation, Lokayukta Police had given a clean chit to CM and family.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), taking cognisance of the huge money involved in the scam, began probe and put a brake on the disposal of sites by  allottees, collectively valued at hundreds of crores of rupees.  The ED, after checking bank transactions and scrutinising other documents, discovered huge sums of money laundering.

Earlier, after a Court vented out its disappointment over the probe, the State Government had sanctioned the prosecution of Dinesh Kumar by Lokayukta. Now, the ED’s questioning and the subsequent arrest of Dinesh Kumar has aroused much anxiety in both political and public circles.

KAS Officer G.T. Dinesh Kumar as the MUDA Commissioner in 2022 was accused of illegal allotment of hundreds of sites as per 50:50 scheme. Subsequently, the State Government transferred Dinesh Kumar from MUDA, without assigning any posting. Later, after several months, the Government appointed him as Registrar of Haveri University, which attracted widespread criticism. Subsequently, the Government cancelled his appointment.

Recently, the Lokayukta, probing the MUDA scam, had sought Government’s sanction for investigating former MUDA Chairman H.V. Rajeev and Dinesh Kumar in the alleged MUDA scam. However, the Government granted sanction only for prosecuting Dinesh Kumar. Following this development, the ED again swung into action and took custody of Dinesh Kumar to question him on the money laundering aspects, which has sent shock waves among several others said to have been involved in the scam.

With the ED arresting Dinesh Kumar, the MUDA 50:50 sites scam has again come into limelight, which may result in mudslinging between the ruling Congress and opposition BJP and JD(S) in the State.

The case

Following numerous complaints that the land losers, who have already been allotted incentive sites, are being allotted MUDA sites once again illegally, Star of Mysore had published a front page news item titled STOP 50:50 distribution of sites to land losers on June 25, 2024, highlighting the then MUDA Chairman K. Marigowda’s directions to the then MUDA Commissioner G.T. Dinesh Kumar to stop the entire process of allotting sites as per 50:50 scheme.

In the note sent from his office to Dinesh Kumar on Mar. 16, 2024, Marigowda had asked immediate halting of site allotments.

The note further said that such site allotments must get prior approval from MUDA members after placing complete details regarding laws, provisions and norms under 50:50 scheme to land losers, since 2021, at MUDA’s next meeting. But there was no reply from the MUDA Commissioner nor other authorities to the note, which gave rise to suspicion on rampant irregularities in site allotments, as they were allegedly sanctioned afresh to land losers in clear violation of the law.

MLA reacts

Meanwhile, Krishnaraja BJP MLA T.S. Srivatsa, reacting to the arrest of Dinesh Kumar by the ED, said that this was a result of the BJP’s relentless campaign against the MUDA site scam and thanked all those who joined the party in the campaign or lent support.