Rs 8 lakh bribe to measure 60X40 site

Two Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) engineers demanded Rs eight lakh bribe only to measure a 60X40 site! The accused Rudregowder, Assistant Executive Engineer and Adani, Junior Engineer at BDA North office in R T Nagar were arrested red-handed by Lokayukta police on Thursday while accepting the bribe of Rs seven lakh.

The complainant (who did not wish to be named) was harassed by the engineers for some time. Police said the complainant's five guntas of land in Banasawadi was acquired by the BDA. The complainant was allotted an alternative land measuring 60X40 in HBR 1st stage.

As a procedure, the engineers had to measure the site and submit a report to the BDA Commissioner. The accused demanded a bribe of Rs 8 lakh.

The accused said the bribe amount was not only for them, but it had to be distributed among various officials. One of the accused Rudregowder also said he would only keep Rs 4 lakh while distributing the remaining Rs 4 lakh with other colleagues who will be part of the measurement work.

The victim lodged a complaint with the lokayukta city police and a trap was laid on Thursday evening. Rudregowder accepted the bribe amount of Rs 1 lakh in his office and handed over the money to his driver. Later, Junior Engineer Adani accepted Rs 6 lakh. The police also arrested the driver Mohan Kumar. All the three accused were arrested red-handed at the BDA North office in RT Nagar and were produced before the Lokayukta special court.