MUDA commissioner, two others held for Rs five-crore scam

The police on Monday night arrested Dr H S Shivaram, Commissioner, Mandya Urban Development Authority (MUDA), on charges of financial irregularities of Rs five crore.

They also arrested Congress leader Kebballi Anand and Nagalingaswamy, the prime accused in the alleged fraud in the MUDA. Dr Shivaram aided the duo in the irregularities, Superintendent of Police Bhushan Bhorase told reporters here on Tuesday.

While Rs 2.8 crore was deposited in the account of Anand, Rs 1.65 crore was credited to that of Nagalingaswamy. They received the money through Hemmanahalli Chandrashekhar’s account, where the cheque given by the commissioner was deposited. The rest of the amount remained in the account of Chandrashekhar.
Chandrashekhar received an additional Rs two crore for aiding the money transfer. The source of the Rs two crore is being investigated. Police are on the lookout for Chandrashekhar.

It is alleged that Shivaram got Rs 10 lakh to facilitate the transfer of money belonging to MUDA to the accounts of the accused for a period of three months. Shivaram is reported to have admitted that he received the money.

Anand and Nagalingaswamy reportedly told the commissioner that the money would be returned to him along with interest after three months. When the commissioner did not get back the money as promised, he is reported to have filed a case against Indian Bank on July 5, saying it had transferred Rs five crore to someone else’s account.

Following investigations, it came to light that the deposit bond, of the supposed investment of MUDA’s money, was handwritten and had a different colour than usual.
Also, two deposit bonds were given with same numbers and were issued as late as Sunday.

Probe showed that bank officials had no role in the episode.
It is said that Anand had himself written the details on the fake deposit bonds. The documents have been sent to handwriting experts for analysis.