A day after arresting IAS officer and former Bengaluru Urban deputy commissioner J Manjunath on bribery charges, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) searched his luxury apartment in northern Bengaluru’s Yeshwantpur on Tuesday.
The search of Manjunath’s flat in the Salarpuria apartment complex was carried out based on a court warrant and yielded some documents, including details of his movable and immovable properties, bank accounts, cash and gold jewellery, sources said.
The ACB questioned Manjunath’s family and is verifying and compiling the details and is yet to reveal the findings of the search operation.
Manjunath was arrested on Monday in a case pertaining to a corruption trap laid by the ACB in the deputy commissioner’s office on May 21.
The ACB said it acted on a complaint filed by Azam Pasha, a landowner from Begur who had filed a petition regarding 38 guntas of land in the deputy commissioner’s court, which deals with the cases of revenue appeals and miscellaneous matters. The land is located in Kudlu village in Anekal taluk and is worth several crores of rupees.
Two staffers working in the deputy commissioner’s office — deputy tahsildar Mahesh, 41, and assistant Chetan Kumar alias Chandru, 38 — allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 15 lakh on Manjunath’s behalf to rule the case in Pasha’s favour.
Pasha paid them Rs 5 lakh, but complained to the ACB.
The arrests prompted the state government to transfer Manjunath, a promoted IAS officer, and post him as the director of the Integrated Child Protection Scheme on July 1. After his arrest, he has been lodged in Parappana Agrahara Central Prison for 14 days’ judicial custody.
Published 05 July 2022, 18:07 IST