Muda case: ED won't be able to attach plots but probe will go on

The gambit by Siddaramaiah 's wife to return the 14 plots to Muda on the day ED opened a probe into allotment of plots to her will not prevent the agency from probing what it believes was a scam that probably involves more people.

The police and Lokayukta probes into the case are already underway and ED will be undertaking its own exercise after booking a defiant Karnataka chief minister, his spouse Parvathi and others.

"This is an admission of guilt," a source in the Capital said on the return of plots.

But with the plots returned to Muda, it will not be possible to attach the land as may have been the case if the probe agency had found evidence of money laundering, sources said. The Prevention of Money Laundering Act empowers ED to attach proceeds of crime, and it has often used the power after getting required clearances.

Muda on Tuesday promptly accepted Parvathi's offer showing alacrity which, to many, pointed to a "not-so-invisible" hand of higher-ups in the govt, the recognition on the part of the chief minister and his wife of the seriousness of ED's move and their vulnerability in the controversy and the anxiety to get the issue off their back.