A special court for cases involving elected representatives in Karnataka on Tuesday gave the Lokayukta police one day’s custody of a former chairman of the Mysore Urban Development Authority, G T Dinesh Kumar, to probe allegations of corruption in the allotment of MUDA sites to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s family in 2021.
The Karnataka Lokayukta police, which sought court permission last week to question Dinesh Kumar in prison, where he is housed after an arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to MUDA allotments, moved the special court this week for his custodial interrogation.
“Mr. G.T. Dinesh Kumar is produced before the court under body warrant. It is relevant to note that G.T. Dinesh Kumar is remanded to JC as an under trial prisoner by this court in ECIR 25/2024 and at present the I.O. who is present before the court has filed a requisition requesting the court to remand G.T. Dinesh Kumar to police custody for one day since some incriminating materials were found against him,” the special court noted.
“Perused the requisition and also the case diary and it is noticed from records that certain incriminating materials are found, which require to be investigated. Considering the same, it would be appropriate to remand G.T. Dinesh Kumar to the custody of IO in the above case for a period of one day,” the court said.
The special court on October 9 sought completion in two months’ time of the investigations by the Lokayukta police on a private complaint filed by an RTI activist, Snehamayi Krishna, into the alleged illegal allotment of 14 sites by MUDA in 2021 to the current chief minister’s wife in exchange for a 3.16-acre property wrongfully acquired by MUDA.
Lokayukta closure report kept in abeyance
The Lokayukta police filed a closure report, or ‘B’ report, in the MUDA land allotment case in February 2025, citing the lack of evidence to establish the allegations of Snehamayi Krishna that Siddaramaiah made Rs 56 crore after his wife received 14 housing sites from MUDA in 2021 in exchange for a 3.16-acre plot.
In April this year, the special court kept a decision on the acceptance or rejection of the Lokayukta closure report in abeyance. The court, however, allowed the Lokayukta police to continue its probe in the case till the filing of the final report of all its investigations as sought by the Lokayukta police.
The special court also said in April that the Enforcement Directorate, which filed a protest petition against the Lokayukta police closure report, could also continue its investigations with respect to a Prevention of Money Laundering Act registered by it over the MUDA land allotments scam.
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Following the controversy over the allotment of the 14 housing sites, Siddaramaiah’s wife returned the 14 housing sites to the MUDA last year.
On November 14, the Enforcement Directorate filed a prosecution complaint against Dinesh Kumar in connection with the alleged illegal allotment of MUDA land. He was arrested in September and has been in prison since the arrest.
“The evidence and documents collected during the course of investigation in this case have indicated active involvement of G T Dinesh Kumar in the comprehensive money laundering scheme perpetrated at MUDA, Mysuru, during his tenure as commissioner,” the agency stated.
Modus operandi in MUDA scam
The modus operandi for making the alleged illegal MUDA allotments involved the identification of ineligible beneficiaries and making allotments using fake or incomplete documents, in violation of government orders, and also by back-dating allotment letters, it said.
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The gratification received for making these illegal allotments was routed through a cooperative society and bank accounts of the relatives or associates of Kumar, who has played a key role in the allotment process, the agency added.
The gratification thus received was further used to purchase some of these illegally allotted MUDA sites in the name of Kumar’s relatives, the Enforcement Directorate said. The former MUDA commissioner has moved the Karnataka High Court to challenge the ED case.