Liquor, cash found in excise Deputy Commissioners' offices

Searches conducted by the Lokayukta police on Thursday in the offices of the Deputy Commissioners of the State Excise Department located on JC Road have yielded large quantites of whisky of different brands prompting them to arrest one of the Deputy Commissioners.

The searches were conducted in the offices of East, West, North and South divisions and were prompted by complaints of large-scale irregularities during year end transactions. Officers claim that reports about  seizure of liquor from their offices were false.

Sources in the Lokayukta police stated that a search conducted in the office of Mohan Kumar L N, the Deputy Commissioner of East division yielded Rs 25,000 cash in three envelopes and 20 bottles of whisky worth around Rs 1 lakh. The police have arrested Mohan Kumar after he was found to have been accepting bribes for issuing liquor licences and extending trading hours for liquor shops.

Searches at the offices of West DC M Fasihuddin and South DC Mallikarjun R Gaddi yielded more whisky, but no cash. However, nothing was found in the office of North DC Jayasimha, who was away in Mysore for training.