Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) H K Patil has ordered a probe into the misuse of funds to the tune of Rs 55 crore in the Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited (KRIDL).
The funds were unauthorisedly parked in two separate accounts of the Mangaluru branch of Indian Overseas Bank in August this year. Later a large sum of this money was transferred to fake bank accounts opened in other bank branches in various parts of the state. In one such illegal transfer, Rs 50 lakh was recently deposited in an account belonging to Shah Exports at Vijaya Bank, Koramangala branch, Bengaluru.
The Shah Exports’ account had remained a zero-balance account for over two years. The misuse of funds came to light after Vijaya Bank officials alerted the RDPR department about such a large sum of money being deposited in the account, according to a release from the minister’s office.
The minister has directed the RDPR principal secretary to conduct a preliminary enquiry into the issue and submit a report.
