Bengaluru:
Adding a twist amid the Enforcement Directorate raids against Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara in the gold smuggling case involving actor Ranya Rao, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar today said the minister had told him that he gave a wedding gift to the actor and that there was “nothing wrong in it”.
Mr Shivakumar today met the state Home Minister at his residence. Speaking to the media later, he said, “I just spoke to Parameshwara, there was a marriage (ceremony), we are in public life, we run institutions. As a gesture to people we know, we give lots of gifts, we give Re 1, Rs 10, Rs 10 lakh, Rs 5 lakh. I think he might have also given a gift. It was a marriage, nothing wrong in it.”
The Deputy Chief Minister said no politician will support the kind of activities Ranya Rao is accused of. “Whatever activities done by that lady is a personal issue, the law will take its course. As far as Parameshwar is concerned, we meet thousands of people, we don’t know who does what. We don’t want to interfere with the law and ED. I just discussed with him, I asked him what is the reality, he said at the time of marriage, he has given, he has gifted, quite natural,” he said.
Interestingly, when NDTV approached Mr Parameshwara for his remarks on what his cabinet colleague said, he replied with a smile, “You ask DK Shivakumar.” Asked if he would cooperate with the investigation, he replied, “Of course.”
The Enforcement Directorate has conducted raids at several educational institutions linked to the Karnataka Home Minister in connection with the gold smuggling case. The central agency is investigating the matter under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and targeting hawala operators who allegedly carried out ‘fake’ transactions into accounts linked to Ranya Rao.
Mr Parameshwara said the agency’s officials visited three institutions and a university and sought financial records for the past five years. He said he had instructed his staff to cooperate with the investigators.
“As a person who believes in the law of the land, I am prepared to cooperate with whatever comes out of their verifications or searches,” he said. Asked about allegations that a sum of Rs 40 lakh from his institution’s account was used to pay Ranya Rao’s credit card bill, he said he would respond after the investigation is completed.
Ranya Rao was arrested on March 3 at Bengaluru airport after she flew in from Dubai. Officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence seized gold bars weighing 12 kg and worth over Rs 12 crore from her. A special court yesterday granted bail to Ranya Rao and a co-accused after the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence could not file a chargesheet in time. The actor will, however, remain in jail because she has also been charged under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974, which allows preventive detention without bail for a year.
Claiming a major breakthrough, the Enforcement Directorate has said that an education trust diverted funds and made a payment of Rs 40 lakh towards the credit card bill of Ranya Rao, allegedly on the instructions of an influential individual. “No supporting vouchers or documentation were found to substantiate this payment,” it has said.
