By Manisha Roy,News18
Copyright news18
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday arrested Karnataka Congress MLA Satish Krishna Sail in connection with an ongoing money laundering probe. The sitting MLA from Karwar Assembly constituency was arrested by the ED’s Bengaluru Zonal Office following a day-long interrogation.
According to officials, Sail had previously been avoiding summons issued by the agency. He finally appeared before the ED on Tuesday and was taken into custody later that night. He will be produced before a court today, news agency ANI reported.
The arrest follows a series of searches conducted by the central probe agency on August 13 and 14 across multiple locations, including Karwar, Goa, Mumbai, and Delhi, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. These raids targeted individuals and entities allegedly involved in the illegal export of iron ore.
The investigation stems from a conviction order by a special court for MPs and MLAs in Bengaluru. Those convicted include Satish Sail and companies such as Ashapura Minechem Ltd, Shree Lal Mahal Ltd, and Shree Mallikarjun Shipping Pvt Ltd, among others. The illegal exports were reportedly carried out between April and June in 2010 from Belekeri Port, despite forest department seizure orders.
ED, Bengaluru has conducted search operations on 13th and 14th August, 2025 at multiple locations in Karwar (Uttara Kannada), Goa, Mumbai and New Delhi under PMLA in an on-going investigation into Satish Krishna Sail @ Satish Sail, MLA and others persons /entities, who were… pic.twitter.com/OMSyj5FDtJ
— ED (@dir_ed) August 15, 2025
According to the ED, Sail, in collusion with business entities and port officials, illegally exported 1.25 lakh metric tons of iron ore, valued at Rs 86.78 crore. During the searches, ED seized Rs 1.41 crore in cash from Sail’s residence, Rs 27 lakh from the office of Sri Lal Mahal Ltd, and 6.75 kg of gold in the form of jewellery from a family bank locker. Bank accounts holding Rs 14.13 crore were also frozen.
The ED also recovered incriminating documents, emails, and digital records related to the illegal transactions as part of its investigation.
