Karnataka: Raid on 13 government officials nets ill-gotten assets worth Rs 14 crore
The raids began early on Tuesday morning and were conducted in 14 districts
BENGALURU: In a major operation, the Lokayukta police conducted simultaneous raids on the houses of 13 government officials, including an IAS officer, on allegations that they possessed assets disproportionate to their known sources of income. Illegal assets to the tune of around Rs 14 crore were unearthed during the raids.
The sleuths of the anti-corruption agency raided the houses of IAS officer and Director of Directorate of Women and Child Development B.M. Vijaya Shankar, Deputy Secretary of BDA P.N. Murthy and Executive Director of KSFC Chief Office Laxmappa Bimappa Nilogal in Bengaluru. Mr Murthy was set to retire in three days.
The raids began early on Tuesday morning and were conducted in 14 districts - Bengaluru, Bagalkote, Ballari, Bidar, Chikkaballapur, Chikkamagaluru, Dharwad, Kalaburagi, Koppal, Mandya, Mangaluru, Shivamogga, Tumakuru and Yadgir. In all, 36 premises belonging to the accused government officials were raided.
Other than the three officials in Bengaluru, raids were conducted on the houses of Dr. G Ramesh Babu (District Health Officer, Ballari), Ashok Kumar Manikappa Akkanna (FDA, Women and Child Development Office, Yadgir), S.C. Padmaraju (District Programing Officer, Women and Child Development Department, Chikkaballapur), Martanda Shivappa Badiger (Junior Assistant, KIADB, Dharwad), Kashinath Siddaramayya Bidarkar (AEE, Deputy Development Officer, KIADB, Kalaburagi), M.S. Siddegowda (Village Accountant, Kasaba, Mandya), K.N. Padmanabha (Junior Engineer, Mulki Town Panchayat, Mangaluru), K.S. Chandrashekar (AEE, National Highways Authority, NH-13, Sringeri subdivision, Chikkamagaluru), C. Vijayakumar (Revenue Inspector, Kasaba Hobli-2, Taluk Office, Shivamogga), and Thimmaiah (Junior Assistant, Karnataka Food and Civil Supplies Corporation, Tiptur, Tumakuru).
The searches were on till late in the evening, according to sources. Some bank accounts and lockers are yet to be scrutinised.
Two NH division officers raided in Sringeri and Shivamogga
The Lokayukta police on Tuesday raided the residences and offices of two National Highways division officers in Sringeri and Shivamogga. One of the officers, Mr Vijaykumar, is an assistant executive engineer and had earlier served as a revenue inspector at the Shivamogga taluk office.
The raid was conducted at his house in Venkatesh Nagar in Shivamogga city and also his office. The Lokayukta team, headed by SP Sridhar, seized gold ornaments of 350 gram, 1 kg silver articles, Rs 23,000 cash, household items worth Rs 8.5 lakh, one motorbike and a car and documents of two sites.
The cops have found assets of 97.86 percent beyond his actual income. Another officer, Mr Chandrashekhar, worked in the Shivamogga division. During the raid, the cops recovered 230 gram gold and 2.5 kg silver articles, Rs.7.5 lakh cash and household items worth Rs 10 lakh.
His house is valued at Rs 40 lakh and his wife has 3.5 acres of land registered in her name. His assets are 126 percent more than his actual sources of income.