Govt may request ED to probe lottery scam money trail

Home Minister K J George on Monday said he will request the Enforcement Directorate (ED), a specialised financial investigation agency of the Centre, to probe inter-state money trail, if any, under the lottery scam in the State.

Addressing reporters, he said the inter-State money trail has to be probed. The ED is a Central agency, and it can take up investigation into any illegal financial transaction on its own. The State government is ready to cooperate with the ED and will take action against those found guilty without any hesitation, he added.

He, however, ruled out referring the scam to the CBI for investigation, as being demanded by the BJP. “What should our police force do if all cases are handed over to the CBI? Our police are capable to conduct a fair investigation. The CID has been conducting the investigation into the case, and it will soon submit a detailed report to the government,” he stated.

The CID, in its interim report on the lottery scam submitted to the government, had only mentioned the name of senior IPS officer Alok Kumar as prima facie involved and recommended his suspension. But the report has not referred to the illegality as a scam, nor has it assessed the quantum of money involved in this illegal activity. The investigating agency might throw light on these issues in the final report, he added.

George strongly refuted accusation by Opposition parties that the government has been trying to protect certain officials by not taking action. The CID has been given a free hand in the investigation. The government cannot take action without any evidence. It is not fair to comment on anybody when the investigation is on. The government has on its part acted quickly on the recommendation of the CID interim report, he said.

The minister hit back at JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy for his “cattle-grazing” remark against him and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, saying that he has no control over his tongue. “Kumaraswamy has made it a habit to target me baselessly. He should not stoop that low in public life. It is unbecoming of a former chief minister,” he said.
George defended himself by explaining steps taken by the government in preventing the illegal sale of single-digit lottery in the last two years.

Interestingly, number of illegal lottery cases registered in the State has been on the increase since 2012 as per the statistics given by the minister: 2,008 cases in 2012; 3,025 in 2013 and 3,534 in 2014. But he defended it saying that the cases have increased because of the effective enforcement of lottery ban.

Re-opening seizure case
He said he is ready to re-open the case pertaining to seizure of Rs 2.2 crores of currency notes from a Kerala-bound bus near Yelwala in Mysuru last year.

The government has taken action as per a report given by the Additional Chief Secretary to the Home Department. The report has no mention of involvement of any top police official. If necessary, the government is ready to re-open the case and order a thorough investigation, he added.

Asked whether his hands are tied on taking tough action in the Department, the minister said neither his hands are tied nor has anybody remote-controlling the Department.
DH News Service