Ex-BJP MLC Veeraiah arrested over fund misappropriation in Devaraj Urs Truck Terminal

Bengaluru: The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Friday arrested former BJP MLC D S Veeraiah in connection with the misappropriation of Rs 47.1 crore from the D Devaraj Urs Truck Terminal Limited (DDUTLL), a state government entity. 

Veeraiah was the DDUTTL chairman when the misappropriation occurred three years ago. CID officials have established his "direct role" in the misappropriation of Rs 47.1 crore. 

A top officer in the CID told DH on Friday evening that Veeraiah was taken into custody after a Bengaluru court rejected his anticipatory bail application earlier in the day. 

The CID earlier arrested S Shankarappa, a deputy director in the Department of Information and Public Relations, in connection with the case. Shankarappa was a deputy director in the DDUTTL when the alleged misappropriation took place. Following Shankarappa's arrest, Veeraiah filed for anticipatory bail. 

According to a senior CID officer close to the investigation, the DDUTTL's file notings were manipulated in October 2021 to record that works up to Rs 2 crore could be carried out without calling tenders. The CID suspects that works worth Rs 47.1 crore were carried out through this "jugglery". 

This was a violation of the Karnataka Transparency Public Procurement Act, which mandates that a government entity call tenders if any work is estimated to cost beyond Rs 5 lakh. 

"We have found that Veeraiah had approved the works, so he has been arrested," the officer told this newspaper. 

The CID has seized 765 files in connection with the case and analysed over 450 pages of data linked to 380 bank accounts. 

The misappropriation came to light after CN Shivaprakash became a deputy director of the DDUTTL. While scrutinising files, Shivaprakash found irregularities and lodged a complaint at the Wilson Garden police station in Bengaluru. 

An FIR was filed under IPC sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant), 420 (cheating and dishonesty), 465 (forgery) and 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating). 

The case was eventually transferred to the CID.