Bengaluru: The Congress legislator from Karnataka’s Karwar constituency, Satish K. Sail, was arrested by Enforcement Directorate (ED) sleuths on Tuesday in Bengaluru on money laundering charges, sources stated.
The arrest was made while MLA Satish Sail was attending an inquiry at the ED office.
Earlier, the ED had conducted raids at the residence of Congress MLA Satish Sail in connection with illegal iron ore export charges on August 13 and 14, and detected illegal property, cash, and jewels.
The ED sleuths seized a huge quantity of cash and gold. The search operations were conducted in Karwar, Goa, Mumbai, and Delhi, targeting properties owned by Satish Sail. The ED officials packed the documents, gold, and cash into two trunks.
MLA Satish Sail is the third Congress legislator to be arrested by central agencies in recent times. Chitradurga MLA K.C. Veerendra and Dharwad Rural MLA Vinay Kulkarni are the other two legislators.
Sources stated that MLA Sathish Sail would be taken for a medical test, and later, he will be produced before the judge. More details are yet to emerge regarding the arrest of MLA Satish Sail.
A Special MP/MLA Court on October 26, 2024, handed seven years imprisonment to MLA Satish Sail, in all six cases related to the Belekeri illegal iron ore export case. The court had also imposed a fine of Rs 44 crore on him.
A case in connection with the illegal iron ore export case was lodged in 2010, and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) submitted a charge sheet later in the matter.
MLA Satish Sail was named as the second accused in the first case.
However, the Karnataka High Court suspended the conviction of Satish Sail in the illegal export of iron ore case on December 21, 2024. The court also directed authorities not to notify the byelection to the Karwar Assembly constituency till the outcome of his appeal. The court had barred him from attending the Assembly session.
(IANS)
