In a significant development, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has confirmed the arrest of G.T. Dinesh Kumar, the former Commissioner of the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).
Kumar was apprehended in Bengaluru late Tuesday and subsequently presented before a special court on Wednesday.
Before the arrest, the ED had already secured permission from the special court to prosecute Mr. Dinesh Kumar. Furthermore, searches were conducted at two of his residential properties in Bengaluru as part of an ongoing investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The accusations against Mr. Dinesh Kumar stem from his time as MUDA Commissioner, from January 2022 to June 2024. During this period, he is alleged to have engaged in widespread illegal allotments of MUDA sites, purportedly in exchange for bribes and other financial gains.
According to sources close to the investigation, current findings indicate his active participation in money laundering activities. The probe remains ongoing.
The ED’s statement suggests that Mr. Dinesh Kumar collaborated with various real estate professionals to illegally and fraudulently allocate MUDA properties to individuals who did not meet the eligibility criteria.
Notably, two previous inquiries—one conducted by the Lokayukta police and another by a commission led by retired High Court judge P.N. Desai—had cleared Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his family of any wrongdoing regarding the allotment of 14 compensatory sites to his wife, Parvathi.
Despite this, the Lokayukta police are continuing their investigation into broader allegations of irregularities concerning compensatory site allotments under the 50:50 scheme, spanning from 2016 to 2024. An supplementary report on these matters is still pending.
The P.N. Desai Commission had previously advised initiating legal proceedings against officials found responsible for the unlawful allocation of sites to individuals not entitled to compensation.
It’s worth noting that while Mr. Dinesh Kumar and his predecessor, D.B. Natesh, initially drew the ED’s attention after the Lokayukta filed a case against Mr. Siddaramaiah, his wife, and others, the Karnataka High Court ruled in January that the ED’s actions – specifically searching Natesh’s residence, summoning him, and recording his statement concerning his involvement in the 14-site allotment case to Ms. Parvathi – were ‘unwarranted, illegal, and an abuse of the process of law.’