Bengaluru, 16 Oct

Former Minister B Nagendra, who walked out of the jail on Wednesday, alleged that he was pressurised by Enforcement Directorate (ED) to name Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his Deputy DK Shivakumar in the multi-crore scam in Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation.

He also charged the ED with arresting him under pressure from BJP as part of a conspiracy to destabilise the Congress government.

A special court here on Monday granted bail to the Congress MLA, who was arrested by the ED in connection with the scam.

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"I rejected it saying that when my role itself is not there (in the scam), where is their (CM & DCM) role? Where is the government's role? There is no connection between the scam that has taken place in the bank and the government. Despite that, BJP both in the state and at the Centre conspired, as they have done in the 'MUDA' scam," he said.

Asked about the context where he was pressured to name the Chief Minister, he said, "it was in connection with the Finance Department (held by Siddaramaiah)." "It is not a state government scam, it is a bank scam," he said.

Nagendra had resigned as the Scheduled Tribes Welfare Minister in June following allegations of his involvement in the scam. ED had said that Nagendra had been identified as the primary accused and mastermind behind the scam, allegedly orchestrating it with the help of 24 others. -PTI