Bengaluru/IBNS: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested former Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) chief Dinesh Kumar in connection with the land allotment scam in Karnataka, media reports said.

Kumar has been arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

His arrest comes a day after the central probe agency conducted searches at two premises linked to Kumar, who will be produced in the PMLA court in Bengaluru.

The ED is likely to seek Kumar's custody for more interrogation.

The agency alleged large-scale illegal allotments were made under Kumar's tenure.

It is alleged that the illegal allotments were done in exchange for "gratification and pecuniary benefits", Mint reported.

Earlier, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his wife, who were also accused in the case, received a clean chit from Justice P N Desai Commission.

The Karnataka cabinet accepted the report on September 4.

Siddaramaiah was not directly accused of grabbing land himself, but the controversy was over sites allotted to his wife under MUDA’s 50:50 scheme.

It is because of his position as Chief Minister, the opposition claims it was an abuse of power, while he maintains it was lawful. 

It was alleged that 14 prime sites in Mysuru’s Vijayanagar area were allotted to BM Parvathi, Siddaramaiah’s wife, in exchange for land she owned.

Critics say the land she gave up was of lower value, while the allotted sites were in a high-value area, creating a mismatch.