Riyaz remanded in police custody till Aug 5

Lokayukta joint commissioner (PRO) claims there is no evidence against him

Lokayukta joint commissioner (PRO) Syed Riyaz, who was arrested on Sunday in connection with corruption in the Lokayukta institution, has been remanded in police custody till August 5.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) officials produced Riyaz before the Lokayukta special court on Monday afternoon and moved an application seeking his custody for further interrogation.

Senior counsel Hashmath Pasha is appearing for Riyaz, who has been named accused number five in the case of threatening and demanding a bribe of Rs one crore from Bengaluru Zilla Panchayat executive engineer M N Krishnamurthy. Riyaz broke down in the court hall and claimed innocence.

Riyaz said he had hypertension and had taken a tablet just 30 minutes before he was picked by the SIT officials from Acura Speciality Clinic on Sunday.

“There is no evidence against me. It’s nothing but media trial and I will produce all documents to prove my innocence. They (media) will take my video and photograph during my production in court. I have never made any calls to Krishnamurthy and the SIT is building a case against me based on the call record details,” he said.

Riyaz said that a post-graduate student diagnosed him at the Victoria Hospital after he was arrested on Sunday. He said that the SIT officials did not provide him accommodation and hence, he could not sleep. Riyaz requested the court to allow him to use a room at the senior officers’ mess. Public prosecutor for Lokayukta police Ramesh Babu said that the SIT officials had lost sleep because of the case and not Riyaz. The SIT chief investigating officer Labhu Ram submitted that Riyaz was allowed to sleep on a sofa as requested by him on Sunday night.

Riyaz’s counsel Pasha moved an application for interim bail on health grounds. The public prosecutor submitted that Riyaz’s involvement in the case needed to be further probed. He stated that many others were involved in the case and custodial interrogation was necessary. The special court judge V G Bopaiah refused to grant interim bail and remanded Riyaz to police custody. The court conceded to Riyaz’s request for food from home on the condition that the police would taste the food before allowing the accused to have it.

Riyaz used to escort Ashwin
Lokayukta sources said that after the arrest intimation is received or 48 hours in custody, a government servant is under deemed suspension.

“As far as his application seeking extension of leave is concerned, a show-cause notice will be issued to him. A decision on further disciplinary action will be taken in the coming days,” an official said.

The SIT officials said that Riyaz had come back from Umrah pilgrimage and was at some location in Koramangala.

 He got himself admitted at Acura Speciality Clinic on July 23 and was not in touch with anyone. The SIT officials will grill Riyaz on the incident of demand of bribe from Krishnamurthy and also on other cases. Sources said that Riyaz used to escort Y Ashwin, son of Lokayukta Y Bhaskar Rao, inside the Lokayukta office. Once the security persons at the reception became familiar with the face, Ashwin had easy access to the office without making an entry in the visitors’ register.