In a major development, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the tribal welfare board scam and suicide of an employee of the board has arrested a person behind the creation of fake bank accounts and seized 16 kg gold and Rs 10 crore cash, sources said on Wednesday.

The arrested person has been identified as Satyanarayana Varma, a resident of Hyderabad in Telangana.

According to the police, the accused had opened 18 fake accounts in various banks, and huge funds were transferred to these accounts from the Karnataka Maharishi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation (KMVSTDC).

The accused’s role had come out while verifying bank accounts to which the reserved government funds were transferred. The SIT sleuths are likely to bring him to Bengaluru.

The scam in the corporation came to light following the suicide of Chandrashekaran (50), who was working as an Account Superintendent in the Tribal Welfare Board.

He was allegedly pressurised to move large sums of money to various illegal accounts.

It was alleged that the funds were diverted to Hyderabad to be used by Congress for the Lok Sabha election in Telangana and other states. Congress has denied all the allegations.

B. Nagendra, Minister for Youth Empowerment, Sports and Tribal Welfare, has resigned concerning the case. The BJP has been demanding the resignation of the Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil.

The BJP has also pointed fingers at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and senior Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.

(This article has been published via a syndicated feed with minor edits to suit HP styleguide)