Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara.
Credit: DH File Photo
Bengaluru: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) raided educational institutions linked to Home Minister G Parameshwara on Wednesday after detecting at least one financial transaction between an account belonging to one of the institutions and Ranya Rao, the prime accused in a gold-smuggling case, according to a highly placed source in the agency.
Simultaneous searches were conducted at three locations in Tumakuru and one in T Begur near Nelamangala on Bengaluru's northern outskirts.
The searches began around 8 am and were still underway at the time of going to press.
Among the institutions searched were the Sri Siddhartha Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, the Sri Siddhartha Institute of Technology and an office in Tumakuru linked to these institutions.
Parameshwara is the chairperson of Siddhartha institutions.
According to the ED source, two factors were behind the searches: more potential financial transactions between the institutions and suspects in the gold-smuggling case and the need to establish the purpose behind previous transactions.
"We don’t know if the institutions' board will be able to explain the reasons for these transactions," the source quipped. “No arrests will be made. We are only questioning the management."
Asked about the bank accounts involved in the transactions, the source said: "Certain transactions happened through an account linked to one of the institutions. At this stage, we're not pointing fingers at any individual. We need to establish who oversees the transactions and who approved these particular transactions. The investigation will continue."
The ED source clarified that barring the transactions linked to Ranya, no other leads are being pursued in the case.
A police officer in the know claimed that a location in Koppal was also searched but the ED source did not confirm this.
Ranya, 33, a Kannada film actress and stepdaughter of senior IPS officer K Ramachandra Rao, was arrested on March 3 this year by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) upon her arrival in Bengaluru from Dubai.
According to the DRI, she was found carrying 14.2 kg of foreign-origin gold bars worth Rs 12.56 crore on her person.
After the DRI investigations revealed possible money laundering, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED entered the probe. The ED has since searched multiple locations in Bengaluru.