Bengaluru, Sep 24 (IANS) The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday sought response from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) regarding the interim release of Congress MLA K.C. Veerendra on the occasion of Dussehra festival. The bench headed by Justice M.I. Arun sought the response while looking into the petition by the legislator’s wife R.D. Chaitra, seeking interim release from custody for two to three days.

The petitioner in her plea also sought declaring the arrest of MLA Veerendra, her husband, as illegal. The petition also submitted that the arrest is arbitrary and violate his fundamental rights under the Articles 19 and 21, enshrined in the Indian Constitution. The court has reserved the matter for verdict on this matter October 8.

The counsel for MLA Veerendra’s wife said that in view of Dusshera festival, the MLA may be released for two to three days.

Raising objection, the Additional Solicitor General Arvind Kamat appearing for the ED contended that the accused has to file plea before the bail court.

At this stage, the bench intervened saying that the counsel could consult their officers because a short temporary release for 2–3 days was being proposed.

After this brief period, the person could be taken back into custody. The court mentioned that the judgment will be pronounced on the October 8th and that instructions could be obtained in the meantime.

The court emphasised that while the investigation should not be hampered, a person should only be detained when necessary before the investigation. The court also noted that this was a petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and not a bail hearing.

The court further said that if the Enforcement Directorate (ED) agrees, the court may allow temporary release for a few days, provided it is legally permissible and on the condition that the person will surrender back after the period ends.

Additional Solicitor General Arvind Kamath stated that he will get instructions in this regard and make his submissions. The matter has been listed to September 26.

The court also directed the concerned parties to file their synopsis regarding main petition contending the grounds of arrest and alleging non-application of mind by the ED.

It can be recalled that the investigation into the illegal betting scam by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) had revealed that Karnataka Congress MLA K.C. Veerendra and his associates collected over Rs 2,000 crore through single gateway from websites in short span.

The official statement by the ED stated, the ED, Bengaluru Zonal Office has carried out search operations on September 2 at multiple premises in Bengaluru and Challekere under the provisions of PMLA, 2002 in the case of Congress MLA K. C. Veerendra and others related to cheating public in illegal online betting.

Searches have been carried out across 31 premises in Challekere, Bengaluru, Panaji, Gangtok, Jodhpur, Hubli and Mumbai, ED stated.

During the course of earlier searches, an amount of Rs 12 crore in cash, gold jewelary worth Rs 6 crore, silver articles around 10 kilograms along with 4 vehicles were seized, the ED said.

Further investigation has revealed that the accused is running several online betting sites in the name of King567, Raja567, Lion567, etc, according to ED.

It has also been revealed that several gateways have been used for routing payments collected through these websites, the ED said.

The money collected from these websites being operated by Veerendra and his associates through single gateway alone is more than Rs 2,000 crore in a short span of time, the ED stated.

Further, an amount of Rs 55 crore were marked freeze, including Rs 40.69 crore in 9 bank accounts and 1 Demat account of MLA Veerendra and a total amount of Rs14.46 crore in 262 mule accounts recovered from one of the accused gateways through which money collected by multiple gaming websites being operated by Veerendra and his associates were being routed, according to the ED.

–IANS

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