The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has launched an investigation under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) into NGOs that allegedly received foreign funds.
Odanadi and Samvada are the NGOs under ED scanner for allegedly using foreign funds to stoke communal tensions and influence the narrative against Dharmasthala. ED has sought PAN information, account and and transaction details of the NGOs from the State Bank of India and other banks.
The controversy erupted after a former sanitation worker, identified as C.N. Chinnaiah, claimed that he was forced to bury bodies of several women and minors when he was employed at the temple town between 1995 and 2014. However, he was eventually arrested on charges of perjury after his implication pointed towards temple administrators.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara on Tuesday ruled out a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe in the case, asserting that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) is doing its job. The minister was responding to BJP demand for an NIA probe in the case.
Responding to the ED probe, the minister said they are free to conduct their investigation. "Can we say no to their investigation? They will probe in their angle related to financial matters and other things...we don't know their terms of reference. They usually probe into financial matters. Let them do it," he said.
Earlier, BJP MP Kota Srinivas Poojary wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, seeking an ED probe into money laundering in connection with YouTubers spreading misinformation to defame Dharmasthala Manjunatha Swamy Temple.