Karnataka lottery scam: Accused SP opens can of worms

BENGALURU: As the CBI has almost completed the probe in the illegal lottery case, it is revealed that Superintendent of Police H.R. Dharanendra, who was accused of having close nexus with accused Pari Rajan, has made a startling statement before CID, which was earlier probing the case, and the CBI, alleging that the then IGP of the Excise Enforcement and Lottery Prohibition Wing B.A. Padmanayan and SP Chandrakanth were brazenly involved in corruption.

In his statement, Dharanendra has alleged that Padmanayan was harassing his subordinates for money since the day he took charge in January, 2015. “On the fourth day after he assumed charge, he had suspended Raichar inspector Lakshmi Narayan for not paying him. After this, officials in Belagavi, Kalaburagi, and Davanagere range fell in line and were paying the IGP through SP (Admin) Chandrakanth. Later, Chandrakanth approached and told me that he collected money from his subordinates and gave it to the IGP and advised me to do so. I told him clearly that I can’t do such things,” the statement said.

A few days later, the IGP had reportedly issued notices to all officers functioning under Dharanendra, pulling them up for not conducting raids. “I went to the IGP and asked him directly why was he partial towards Chandrakanth and told him that I won’t pay ‘maamool’ to him at any cost. After that, I held a meeting with one DySP and 10 inspectors, who were my subordinates, and told them about the greediness of the IGP and asked them to work without yielding to any pressure. Immediately after the meeting, DySP Cheluvaraju got a call from the IGP’s office and he briefed the IGP about what I told in the meeting,” Dharanendra has said in his statement, a copy of which the DC has access to.

The SP has also alleged that Padmanayan was brazenly discussing with SP Chandrakanth and retired officer Saudaghar on how to make more money by creating fake cases. After a few days, a DySP rank officer approached Dharanendra and told him that the IGP was upset about the way he behaved and reportedly asked him to give money to the IGP as his daughter was getting married.

Further, the SP has held the IGP responsible for his suspension immediately without even issuing a show-cause notice, after it was alleged that he had nexus with Pari Rajan.

Links with Rajan
“In August 2014, Rajan came to my office and introduced himself. He claimed he knew many IPS officers and had come to meet me. I asked him about his occupation. He said he was an agriculturist and belonged to Scheduled Caste and fought for the rights of people from his community whenever they have problem. He also took my official mobile phone number. He used to call me once in a while to wish for festivals and new year. I noticed that he had a hobby to introduce people who held high positions and had ignored him,” the SP said in the statement.

“Once my family had to visit Thiruchendur Murugan temple in Tamil Nadu. As Rajan hailed from Tamil Nadu, I thought of taking his help for easy access to the temple. But he did not answer my call. On March 2, 2015, around 3-3.30 pm, I got a call from his mobile number. When I picked the call, he addressed me as ‘brother’. Though it angered me, I remained calm and spoke to him. He asked me till what time I was available in the office and I told him I would be there till 4.45 pm and hung up the call. On March 6, the same conversation was aired in a TV channel stating that I have close nexus with him. I was neither close to him nor had any financial transactions with Rajan,” the SP’s statement said.