ED arrests ex-MUDA commissioner Dinesh Kumar

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested ex-MUDA commissioner Dinesh Kumar under the provisions of the anti-money laundering law in a case related to allotment of alleged illegal sites, officials said on Wednesday.

He is expected to be produced before a designated special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Bengaluru where the agency will seek for his custody, the officials said.

The arrest came after the federal probe agency on Tuesday searched two residential premises in Bengaluru linked to Kumar in connection with the MUDA illegal sites allocation "scam".

Kumar, as per the ED, during his tenure as MUDA commissioner indulged in "large-scale illegal allotment" of MUDA sites in lieu of "gratification and peculiarly benefits."

Probe has found his "active" involvement in money laundering activities, ED sources said.

The ED is conducting a money laundering investigation into the MUDA allotment of land parcels case on the basis of a Karnataka Lokayukta Police FIR that had named Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his wife BM Parvathi, the CM's brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy, Devaraju -- from whom Swamy purchased the land under probe and gifted it to Parvathi -- and some others.