Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah orders police probe over corruption charges against agriculture minister

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah ordered a police probe into the bribery allegations against Agriculture Minister Cheluvarayaswamy.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that he has directed State police to investigate a letter accusing Agriculture Minister Cheluvarayaswamy of demanding bribes from officials.

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah. (ANI Photo)

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, “Cheluvarayaswamy has said the letter is fake, I have told police to investigate the matter."

Earlier this month, the Karnataka Governor's office had written a letter to the Chief Secretary asking for a probe and action into the corruption allegations levelled against Chaluvarayaswamy by seven officers of the agriculture department in Mandya district.

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The officials also threatened to “end their lives by consuming poison” if necessary action was not taken into the matter.

Responding to the letter from the officials, Karnataka Governor’s Secretariat asked the Chief Secretary of Karnataka, Vandita Sharma, to look into the matter. Siddaramaiah stated, "There are no joint directors in the letter, one JD Ashok Kumar also said in his statement that those are fake letters. It will be known only after investigation."

Also, Karnataka's Aam Admi Party (AAP) President Mukhyamantri Chandru has written a letter to the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah demanding strict action against Cheluvarayaswamy.

The letter stated, "People of the state demanded a stable government by removing the massively corrupt BJP commission government from power and by giving a clear majority win to your party. Having presented the budget 14 times, you have been elected as the chief minister of Karnataka for the second time. People of the state are expecting a corrupt free and pro-people administration from your government."

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Meanwhile, the chief minister today offered tributes to late chief minister Nijalingappa's portrait and the statue located in Vidhana Soudha on the occasion of the latter’s death anniversary.

He highlighted the government's commitment to implementing the "five guarantees" and underscored the availability of funding for various schemes.

The chief minister further stated that the Karnataka government has handed over the investigation to the CID (Criminal Investigation Department) for investigation into an alleged incident where three girls of a medical college in Karnataka’s Udupi district filmed fellow students in the washroom.

"We have given the case to CID. We have given an investigation to a Deputy SP level officer, but I was forced to give it to a high-level investigation. So we gave it to CID."

“Now BJP is saying that CID will close the matter, have they did the same when they were in power? Do you mean that everything given to CID was covered up during their time…?" Siddaramaiah asked.