Karnataka lottery scam: Cops squabbling over booty, spilled beans on lottery scam, says HD Kumaraswamy

Bengaluru: Graphically describing how the lottery scam was exposed, JD(S) state president H.D. Kumaraswamy on Tuesday said that a quarrel between two police officers over sharing of the spoils of the scam led to a sting operation by a news TV channel, which blew the lid off the multi-crore lottery scandal. He said that Paari Rajan, who is till now assumed to be the kingpin of the racket, was just an agent. Martin from Tamil Nadu is the real brain behind the scandal, he said.

“In his initial days, Rajan was friendly with a police constable, Manjunath, and paid him off. But after coming in contact with senior officers, Rajan started humiliating Manjunath, who was angry with the sudden volte-face. He approached Singh and Manjunath, who were posted in the Directorate of Lottery and Excise Prohibition wing, and tipped them off about the scandal,” he said.

“The two officers picked up Rajan in June-July 2014 and took him to Inspector Ramappa Gutthedar. During the interrogation, Rajan offered them money and all the three went to Chennai to collect Rs 40 lakh from Martin,” he alleged. “The money was then taken to Lottery Enforcement SP Dharanesh, who was in charge of South Division, under which Kolar falls. The trio then went to IGP Arun Chakravarthy. The inspector got Rs 5 lakh, while the two constables Rs 2 lakh each. The IGP and SP kept rest of the money,” he said.

Meanwhile, the department filed an FIR against two dummy accused, Shivakumar and Ganesh, leaving Rajan’s name out completely. “Learning about the booty, another SP in the enforcement wing, Chandrakanth, wanted to be posted to the South Division. When he did not get the job, he approached a television channel and got a sting operation done and it was aired in March,” he said.

“The sting operation spooked Rajan, who started doing the rounds of Vidhana Soudha to get help from politicians. He was arrested only after all his attempts failed,” he said.
“After Mr Arun Chakravarthy, Mr Sunil Agarwal took over as IGP. Mr Agarwal had gone to Delhi to attend a conference and from there, he went to UP. At the same time, Martin went to UP and delivered Rs 60 lakh to Mr Agarwal,” Mr Kumaraswamy alleged. “In all, 35 officers are involved. The names will come out during the investigation,” he said.

Asked if Mr Alok Kumar was a victim of inter-group rivalry in the police department, he  said that he will not defend Mr Kumar or any other police officer. “The system has deteriorated so much, it is hard to say,” he said.

‘Produce records of my family’s involvement’

Taking dig at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s accusations against his family, Janata Dal (Secular) state president H.D. Kumaraswamy on Tuesday dared him to release all the documents to prove his family’s involvement in the multi-crore lottery scam. Speaking to reporters after Mr Siddaramaha’s press conference, Mr Kumaraswamy said, “None of our family members are involved in blackmailing or influencing anyone so far. I dare Mr Siddaramaiah to hand over every possible document against me or my father.

“Whatever was said during our press conferences in the last week is meant to bring the truth out in this scam.” Continuing his tirade, Mr Kumaraswamy said that the multi-core lottery scam is a classic example as to how Mr Siddamraiah has failed both as opposition leader and Chief Minister.

“If you are now saying that the scam was taking place since 2007, then he must also agree that as the opposition leader between 2009 and 2013, he did not raise the issue at all either in the House or outside. Even becoming a chief minister, it took him almost two years to announce the probe which means that he is either trying to act ignorant or he is trying to fool us. He cannot pass the buck. This clearly shows that he knew everything about the scam,” he said.

‘Eight police officers involved in scam’

Alleging that eight police officers, including two IGPs, were involved in the lottery scam, JD(S) state president H.D. Kumaraswamy on Tuesday charged that Paari Rajan, the main conduit in the scam, tried to negotiate with the people in the government through a Member of Legislative Council.

Charge

He alleged that Arun Chakravarthy and Sunil Agarwal, both IGPs, Dharanesh and Chandrakanth, both SPs, Ramappa Gutthedar, Inspector, Singh, a head constable, and two constables, both named Manjunath, were involved in the scam. Mr Kumaraswamy said that Rajan had managed to negotiate with the police officers and stay out of jail.

Even after a private TV channel aired a sting on the lottery scam in March this year, he managed to stall the FIR for over two months. In those two months, he met some ministers through the newly elected MLC. He also met the son of a “prominent politician”, who demanded Rs 100 crore to help him out.  

“But Rajan, who was only a small fry in the racket, made his boss, Martin from Chennai, to negotiate it for Rs 10 crore. But the deal did not go through and Rajan was arrested,” Mr Kumaraswamy said. “I have documents to prove these charges. The Chief Minister should get information on the ministers and other top politicians, whom Rajan met. The CM should also get information about the newly elected MLC, who tried to help Rajan for a price,'' he said.

Politicians involved

Terming it as larger than the stamp paper scam, Mr Kumaraswamy said that apart from police officers, some politicians too were involved in it. On the BJP’s stand, he said, “When I banned lottery in the state, the BJP had strongly opposed my move.  However, I was firm and went ahead with it.”