JOIN USLokayukta cops seek info on Vyalikaval house
It’s now official. Tainted BBMP Executive Engineer Idaya Vendon, his office clerk and three private contractors have been found to be involved in the ‘purportedly fraudulent act’ pertaining to works in the Rajarajeshwarinagar division, at a private house belonging to the Rajarajeshwarinagar MLA Muniratna.
The house – Number 10/1 at 2nd Main Vyalikaval – is in the name of Manjula, the MLA's wife. The Lokayukta police have written to the BBMP Commissioner to provide more details about the house and clarification on 800 files seized from the house.
The Lokayukta police had searched the house on December 26 evening. One Srinivas had filed a complaint with the Lokayukta police stating that Vendon was running a parallel BBMP office at a private house in Vyalikaval.
The police found that Vendon, his office clerk Shailaja and three contractors – Raghavendra, Neeraj and Jayaram – were in the house.
The police verified the property documents and found that the khata was in the name of MLA’s wife, Manjula
“There is no other detail in the document. It just says Manjula and we want the BBMP to clarify on the ownership of the property with supporting documents,” a Lokayukta source said.
Let alone the BBMP, even Muniratna is not issuing any statement about his house. “The case is with the Lokayukta... hence I don't want to comment on it,” he told Deccan Herald on Wednesday.
When asked if he denied that house No. 10/1 in Vyalikaval 2nd Main Road belonged to him, he said, “I don’t want to make any comment about the house. Let me receive the Lokayukta police notice and I will appear before them within 10 minutes.”
The house has a nameplate with Munirathna’s name reading ‘MLA, Rajarajeshwarinagar’.
Sources in the Lokayukta said the BBMP senior officials had taken the matter lightly and not even bothered to question the executive engineer for transporting more than 800 files to a private house belonging to the MLA. “It is learnt that Idaya Vendon was on leave even on the day he was found at the private house. The files are still being scrutinised and most of them pertain to works in the Rajarajeshwarinagar division. We are examining the files one by one,” the source said.
Vendon was arrested by the Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force in 2011 in connection with the fake bills scam. The scam is estimated at Rs 1,539 crore in three divisions – Gandhinagar, Malleswaram and Rajarajeshwarinagar. After Vendon was arrested, all the senior officials of the three divisions obtained anticipatory bails.
The cases with these three divisions are now being probed by the Criminal Investigation Department.
Vendon was the then Executive Engineer of Malleswaram division. Later, he was brought back to the Rajarajeshwarinagar division, which is ironically one of the divisions marred by irregularities.