Lokayukta traps cop for bribing!

A police sub-inspector (PSI) was caught red-handed by Lokayukta sleuths on Saturday when he was offering a bribe to a person to testify in his favour at a departmental inquiry.

The sleuths arrested Siddarangaswamy, attached to Vishwanathpura police station, at a ‘dhaba’ on Devanahalli-Doddaballapura road.

Lokayukta officials said that one Sampath had filed a complaint against Chikkajala police  for arresting and sending him to jail based on a false complaint.

Sampath had approached the Bangalore city police commissioner seeking for a detailed inquiry. The Commissioner had entrusted the case to City Crime Branch (CCB).
A report was then submitted to the Commissioner against the then police inspector of Chikkajala station, Sriharsha and PSI Siddarangaswamy. The Commissioner ordered for a departmental inquiry against the two.

Meanwhile, the duo contacted Sampath and requested him to speak in their favour during the departmental inquiry. They also offered him a bribe of Rs 1 lakh for doing so. Sampath lodged a complaint about this with the Lokayukta who decided to lay a trap to arrest the two.

The accused asked Sampath to meet them at the ‘dhaba’ near Chapparadakalllu cross on Devanahalli-Doddaballapura road to collect the advance money.
Accordingly, Sampath landed there and the sleuths were successful in arresting Siddarangaswamy when he was paying an advance of Rs 30,000 to Sampath.
Siddarangaswamy told the Lokayukta officials that he offered the bribe as per Sriharsha’s directions. Sriharsha, however, was not present when the trap was laid and has been absconding since Friday.

Pedestrian killed
A pedestrian was killed on the spot when a BMTC bus knocked him down on Old Madras Road on early Sunday morning. The deceased is aged between 42 to 45. The police have kept the body in Bowring Hospital.
The accident occurred when the deceased was trying to cross the road near Isolation hospital, and was knocked down by a speeding bus. The police have arrested the driver Balachandra.