Karnataka’s anti-corruption watchdog ‘opens account’ after govt shuts down ACB and restores Lokayukta’s powers
BENGALURU:
After the state government shut down the Anti-Corruption Bureau and restored full powers to the Karnataka Lokayukta, sleuths attached to the state’s watchdog have in their first major case trapped and arrested a senior civic official – BBMP’s West zone Joint Commissioner, KAS officer SM Srinivas — and a BBMP case worker, Umesh, on charges of accepting a bribe of Rs 4 lakh.
The Lokayukta cops laid the trap following a complaint by a citizen, Manjunath.
‘Khatha amalgamation’
The duo of Srinivas and Umesh, who is a First Grade Assistant in the West zone Joint Commissioner’s office, had demanded a bribe of Rs12 lakh for amalgamation of a khatha related to the complainant.
As per a press note issued by the Lokayukta’s office, the duo subsequently agreed to an amount of Rs 4 lakh.
The second accused, Umesh, accepted the amount on behalf of the first accused, SM Srinivas, and himself, on Monday.
Both of the accused were trapped in the process and arrested. The investigation was led by IPS officer Ashok KB, DySP Antoniraj and his team.
