Inspector suspended for irregularities

Deputy Commissioner Channappa Gowda suspended Revenue inspector C L Naik for among other things, issuing relief cheques to at least three people for one collapsed house at Pelebhag in Majhali Gavgeri.

Three brothers--Jeevan Naik, Mohan Naik and Kiran Naik--had claimed compensation for the house belonging to their elder brother Shivanand Naik. Interestingly, none of them were staying in the house and only their eldest brother’s wife was using the building. They made the claim after Shivanand Naik received a compensation of  Rs 37,000. However, the enhanced compensation of Rs 26,000 had not been paid.

In another incident, the owner of a collapsed house was paid Rs 37,000 as compensation and a tenant was also given Rs 11,000 . In another incident, another lady had collected Rs 36,000 as compensation for her partially damaged house.

Following complaints, Tahsildar Shivanand Murthy visited the spot and re-inspected the relief work on Tuesday. The DC has given directions to take back the cheques. Those who had encashed the cheques had been asked to return the money at the earliest. He warned them that criminal cases would be filed, if they failed to return the money.

Cheque tampering

In Siraguppa a person was issued a cheque for Rs 2000 as his house was partially damaged in the recent floods. But he had tampered with figures and collected Rs 22,000 from a bank. The accused had added two before the figures and collected Rs 22,000. A bank official noticed the discrepancy as the maximum amount released under flood relief was Rs 10,000 and immediately alerted the revenue officials, who summoned the man to a police station. The accused admitted to collecting Rs 22,000 and repaid the excess amount.