Lokayukta raids unearth illegal properties worth Rs 24 crore

 In its biggest ever raids, the Lokayukta Police on Thursday unearthed properties worth Rs 24 crore by raiding 42 premises belonging to 13 public servants across the State, including an ACP and a Zilla Panchayat member in Bangalore.

The raids were conducted in Bangalore City, Bangalore Rural, Bellary, Chamarajanagar, Chitradurga, Dharwad, Hospet, Mandya, Mysore, Ramanagara, Shimoga and Tumkur districts. 

Prominent among those who were raided are Jayaram, member of Bangalore Urban Zilla Panchayat, also APMC vice-president and director of DCC Bank in Bangalore. Other officials who were raided include N Hanumantharaya (Sira rural circle inspector), N T Srinivasa Reddy (SCRB police inspector), Krishnappa (bill collector-Chikkajala Gram Panchayat), T M Shekshwali (FDA- ZP, Sandur), Rangarama Nayak (JD-Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Ltd, Chamarajanagar District), D Rudramuni (EO-TP, Monkalmuru), Anand Gowda S Patil (CE-Upper Tunga Project, Shimoga District), Niranjan Murthy (D group employee, Labour Department, Hospet), Puttaswamy (SI, Chescom, Mandya), Siddaramaiah (ACP -Halasuru Gate sub-division, Bangalore City), Sundar Raj (DySP- Internal Security Division, Mysore) and C S Jagadeesh (meter reader, Mescom, Shimoga).  

The police registered criminal cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act, said Lokayukta Justice Y Bhaskar Rao.

ACP Siddaramaiah had bought over 15 acres of land under benami names. He owns eight sites in the name of administrator, S R Education Trust, where he is the managing trustee. 

He has investments in two guest houses at a farm in Hunsur. He bought two cars, each costing Rs  5 lakh, in his wife Kalavathi’s name. The approximate cost of household articles and electronic goods is about Rs 15.5 lakh, said Justice Rao. 

Jagadeesh joined Mescom in 1997 and has a house and four sites in his wife’s name, besides six sites in relatives’ names. He has bought three acres of land in his in-laws’ names and owns about 3.30 acres of agricultural land in his name. 

Jagadeesh owns several residential buildings under benami names. The worth of his household articles is about Rs 50 lakh. Interestingly, he draws a monthly salary of Rs 13,140.

The story of Krishnappa is no different. His present salary is Rs 8, 357, while he owns two 2-storey residential buildings in Chikkajala and four sites in Bangalore Rural. He has a four-wheeler and a bike. Worth of his household articles is about 3.50 lakh.Niranjan Murthy’s monthly income is over Rs 20,000.
 He has a house registered in his wife’s name, five houses in his name in Yelahanka and a shop in Hospet.  Puttaswamy earns about Rs 30,400 a month, but has a house worth Rs 13 lakh in his wife’s name. 

He has a site and agricultural land in Mandya. He has spent over Rs 3 lakh for household articles.