JOIN USFIR lodged against Lokayukta's son
The Lokayukta Police probing allegations of corruption within the anti-graft ombudsman registered an FIR against Ashwin Rao, son of Lokayukta Justice Y Bhaskar Rao, on Wednesday under various sections of the IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act.
Incidentally, the FIR was filed an hour before the Karnataka High Court ruled that the Lokayukta and Upalokayukta shall not direct any in-house investigation and should await the report of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed by the State government.
Ashwin had moved the Karnataka High Court challenging Upalokayukta Justice Subhash B Adi’s June 23 order to probe complaints lodged by Janaadhikara Sangarsha Parishat.
The police said that Ashwin alias Krishna Rao had threatened and demanded money from Executive Engineer, Zilla Panchayat (Bengaluru Urban), M N Krishnamurthy on May 4.
According to sources, Krishnamurthy has identified Ashwin as the person who demanded the bribe on the second floor of the Lokayukta office.
“Initially Krishnamurthy mentioned the date of incident as May 5 but later realised that it was May 4. While giving his statement, Krishnamurthy identified Ashwin as the person who introduced himself as Krishna Rao. The FIR has been registered on the basis of the statement given by Krishnamurthy and DySP Prasanna V Raju as the complainant,” said an official.
The police have found that Ashwin had messaged Krishnamurthy on May 4 asking him to call back.
The message from mobile number 9066029213 stated: “Hi, tried calling you. Please call back when you are free.”
When Krishnamurthy called back the same day, Ashwin introduced himself as Krishna Rao and said Joint Commissioner (PRO), Lokayukta, had asked him to meet at the office. Krishnamurthy went to PRO (Lokayukta) office the same day and Ashwin demanded a bribe of Rs 1 crore to not raid him for possessing assets disproportionate to known sources of income.
The FIR was registered under IPC Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 384 (extortion), 419 (cheating by personation) and 420 (cheating), and Sec 8 (taking gratification to influence public servant) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The police have shown the time of registration of FIR as 12 pm, an hour before a division bench of the high court comprising Justices N Kumar and Sreenivas Gowda observed: “In order to avoid conflicting findings, it is appropriate that the Lokayukta and Upalokayukta shall not direct any in-house investigation and await the report of SIT appointed by the state government.”
The letter to the Registrar (Lokayukta) stated that some people were indulging in nefarious activities which could bring disrepute to the institution.