Former Chief Minister and Opposition leader HD Kumaraswamy on Saturday, October 29, sought answers from the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Karnataka government after MTB Nagaraj, Minister of Small Scale Industries and Municipal Administration in Karnataka. was heard speaking about money being paid for postings in the police department in a video.
“The government itself has accepted that postings are happening on the basis of money payments. The statement by Minister MTB Nagaraj that heart attacks are bound to happen when you pay Rs 70 lakh to Rs 80 lakh for a posting holds a mirror to the state government’s policy for police postings,” the former Karnataka CM said in a statement to reporters in Bengaluru.
It was earlier reported that the purported video of MTB Nagaraj was shot when he was walking to the house of 42-year-old KH Nandish, Inspector with Bengaluru’s KR Puram police station, who had died of a heart attack on October 27. “They collect money left, right and centre and get involved in all kinds of things. This is their tension. They pay Rs 70 to 80 lakh for a posting; this is their tension. They are doing these kinds of things,” Nagaraj is heard saying in the video as he walks to Nandish’s house to offer condolences. MTB Nagaraj is also one of the richest MLAs in the state.
#Karnataka Min MTB Nagaraj's statement when he went to pay condolences to former K R Puram Inspector K H Nandish's family has snowballed into a controversy. Yesterday, Nagaraj while walking to his house says-*if you pay Rs.70-80 lakhs for posting. You are bound to have tension* pic.twitter.com/biaM2378BB
— Imran Khan (@KeypadGuerilla) October 29, 2022
Responding to the video, which was shared widely on social media, HD Kumaraswamy asked, “Whom did Nandish pay Rs 70-80 lakh? What percentage of the money went to senior officers including the Home Minister and the Chief Minister? Or are there any unseen people who remote control them working behind the scenes? Please reveal the truth, CM sir.”
“The Chief Minister must clarify whether the Minister is telling the truth or not. If it’s the truth then the entire matter must be referred for investigation. If the statements are false then what is the future of the minister?,” the JDS leader stated.
HD Kumaraswamy also raised allegations that the BJP government had demoralised the police system in Karnataka and a few police officers from north India were acting as agents of the BJP high command and were treating Kannada-speaking officers as slaves. However, Kumaraswamy did not mention the names of the officers or mention any more specifics of his allegation.