Former Karnataka minister B Nagendra, who was released on bail on Tuesday in an alleged corruption case, alleged that the Enforcement Directorate pressured him to implicate Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar, The Hindu reported.

He alleged that the central agency tried to destabilise the Congress government in Karnataka through him.

The Enforcement Directorate has accused Nagendra of involvement in siphoning off money from the bank account of the Sri Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation. It alleged that the funds were diverted for the Lok Sabha election in the Ballari constituency.

The matter came to light in May after an official of the corporation, Chandrashekhar P, died by suicide, allegedly because he feared punitive action.

Nagendra, a former minister for Scheduled Tribes welfare, resigned on account of the allegations on June 6. He was arrested on July 12, and was granted bail on Monday.

The former minister told reporters after being released from jail: “The ED pressurised me to name Mr. Siddaramaiah and Mr. Shivakumar, but I refused. When I have no role in the scam, where does their role come from?”

Nagendra alleged that the Enforcement Directorate wanted him to implicate Siddaramaiah as he heads the state finance ministry, PTI reported. He, however, claimed that the case was a bank scam, and not a scam linked to the state government.

“Money has been transferred without any written authorisation,” the Congress MLA said. “Bank officials have transferred the money without verifying KYC when the model code of conduct was in place. This is not a scam connected to the State government but a bank scam.”

On the Enforcement Directorate’s allegation that funds for misused for the Ballari election, Nagendra said a Special Investigation Team had concluded that funds had not been misused for the polls.