The Karnataka Lokayukta officials raided 45 Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) offices across the city on Thursday. The raids were conducted at the offices of the Revenue Officer, Assistant Revenue Officer, and Assistant Director of Town Planning (ADTP). Over 200 officers of various ranks were put into 45 teams to conduct the raids.
Karnataka Lokayukta Justice B S Patil personally inspected the offices at Rajajinagar and Vijayanagar and observed a slew of irregularities. Speaking to DH, he said that the raids were planned following multiple complaints from the public.
“There were repeated complaints about the illegal practices followed at these offices. Hence, we wanted to crack down on them. At the offices I inspected, none of these maintained a cash declaration register, and there were many loopholes in operation,” Patil said.
He noted that in a few cases, the officials had failed to attend to applications that were filed back in 2001. “They have neither rejected nor approved these applications,” Patil noted.
Lokayukta Bengaluru Superintendent of Police Ashok K V said that the officers mostly focussed on verifying the implementation of Sakala and the pendency of files.
“Usually 3 pm to 5 pm is the allowed time for the public to visit the offices. Hence, our officers went in at 4 pm to check how the officials respond to the public. High-value transactions take place at these offices and there were also complaints of bribery,” he said.
The officials conducted extensive searches at these offices to determine the extent of the pendency of files, he said. Justice Patil added that cases will also be booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act if the officials find any unaccounted cash.
Raids were conducted at ADTP Bengaluru East, ADTP Bommanahalli, ADTP Mahadevapura, ADTP Byatarayanapura, ARO and RO offices at Yelahanka, Shanthinagar, KR Puram, HSR Layout, and many other areas across the city.
Published 03 August 2023, 15:44 IST