Scare at Lokayukta’s office, woman tries to enter with knife in bag

Days after Lokayukta Justice P Vishwanath Shetty resumed work after recovering from a knife attack, a 57-year-woman was apprehended while trying to enter his office with a kitchen knife in her bag on Thursday.

The woman, identified as Sonu alias Sonia Rani alias Soubhagya, is a resident of Hosahalli in Vijayanagar.

According to the police, Sonu was apprehended after the door frame metal detector at the Lokayukta building entrance started beeping continuously after she walked through it around 11 am. The woman police staff insisted that they check her bag and found a kitchen knife in it.

The knife and the bag were seized and Sonu was taken to the Vidhana Soudha police station. The woman police constable deployed at the entrance, Sunanda Bai, lodged a complaint against Sonu.

Preliminary investigations revealed that Sonu is a widow and had filed six complaints at the Lokayukta office related to property issues. She claimed to the police that she had come to file her seventh complaint and was upset over the delay in disposal of her petitions.

Police sources hinted that Sonu seemed mentally disturbed but said only doctors could confirm that.

The police said Sonu had an adopted son named Vinay (27), who is a paralytic and is being treated at K R Hospital in Mysuru. Sonu told the police that it was a vegetable-fruit knife which she always carried in her bag.

However, the police are interrogating her to ascertain the exact reason why she carried a knife.

A police official said that the woman will be sent to the state-run women’s remand home and will be produced before a magistrate on Friday.

Meanwhile, Lokayukta Justice Shetty said the woman had filed some complaints. While, some have been closed, the others are under enquiry.

“The incident has come to my notice. I have directed the officials to proceed according to law,’’ he said.

According to Lokayukta sources, Sonu had filed eight complaints of which six were closed for lack of evidence, while two are under enquiry.

Lokayukta Justice Shetty was stabbed and injured on March 7, 2018 in his office chamber by a man identified as Tejaraj Sharma (33) who was angry that his petitions regarding corruption at a government office were not entertained by the Lokayukta.