ED attaches Congress MLA's assets worth Rs 1.32 crore in Kolar milk union job scam

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said it has attached assets worth Rs 1.32 crore belonging to Karnataka Congress legislator KY Nanjegowda in connection with alleged irregularities in the 2023 recruitment process of the Kolar-Chikkaballapur District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Ltd (KOMUL).

Nanjegowda, who represents the Malur constituency in Kolar district, also serves as the chairman of KOMUL. According to the ED, the recruitment process conducted by KOMUL involved a written examination and an interview but was “manipulated” in exchange for money and political recommendations.

The federal agency alleged that the recruitment committee, headed by Nanjegowda along with KOMUL Managing Director KN Gopala Murthy, colluded with other directors to favour certain less meritorious candidates while depriving deserving ones.

The ED issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to attach the Rs 1.32 crore worth of assets belonging to Nanjegowda. The probe stems from searches conducted by the ED in January in a separate case involving the alleged illegal allotment of government land worth Rs 150 crore linked to Nanjegowda and others.

During those searches, the ED claims to have recovered both original and tampered Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) answer sheets, WhatsApp messages from political figures recommending certain candidates, and communications forwarded by Nanjegowda and other directors to KOMUL staff.

The agency also alleged that procedural lapses were found in the entire KOMUL recruitment process and even at Mangalore University, suggesting attempts to conceal the irregularities.

The ED further stated that admissions made by KOMUL directors and staff, Mangalore University Registrar Nagendra Prasad, and some selected candidates revealed what it called a “mega scam” in the 2023 recruitment drive.

According to the agency, a sum of Rs 1.56 crore was generated as proceeds of crime through manipulation of both the written and interview stages of recruitment in return for monetary gains from the candidates, who were promised selection.

Nanjegowda was identified as the “principal architect” of the alleged scam, having used his position as KOMUL chairman to control the overall recruitment process. The ED said evidence indicates that he led efforts to fix the number of “reserved” seats, plan the collection of bribes, and direct the tampering of OMR sheets and interview scores to benefit certain recommended or paying candidates.

The agency alleged that the MLA personally enriched himself by Rs 80 lakh from the total proceeds of the alleged scam. The ED has referred the matter to the Karnataka Lokayukta Police and also filed a complaint before the special court for trial of Member of Parliament and Member of Legislative Assembly cases.

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