Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said that the ED’s statement on the MUDA site allotment case was politically motivated.

The chief minister, his wife Parvathi B M and her brother Mallakarjuna Swamy and others are accused in the case registered by the Lokayukta police on court directions.

The Enforcement Directorate on January 17 said it had attached 142 units of immovable assets worth about Rs 300 crore in a MUDA-linked money laundering case involving Siddaramaiah and others.

The ED is also probing the case based on a complaint by an activist Snehamayi Krishna.

“I have no connection with the ED’s press release. They (ED) are doing it intentionally and unnecessarily for political reasons,” Siddaramaiah told reporters here.

“The ED issued the release at the behest of the BJP. It is politically motivated,” he added.

The ED attachment is part of a money laundering probe into alleged irregularities in land allotment by Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).

The attached properties are registered in the name of various individuals who are working as real-estate businessmen and agents, the federal agency said in a statement.

“It is alleged that Siddaramaiah (a Congress leader) used his political influence to get compensation for 14 sites in the name of his wife Smt. BM Parvathi in lieu of 3 acres 16 guntas of land acquired by MUDA.

“The land was originally acquired by MUDA for Rs 3,24,700. The compensation in the form of 14 sites at posh locality is worth Rs 56 crore,” the agency said.

The chief minister, who has been questioned by the Karnataka Lokayukta in this case, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing by him or his family, saying the opposition was “scared” of him and that these were politically motivated charges.