Karnataka Lokayukta raids 60 places linked to 13 government officials

Bengaluru: The Karnataka Lokayukta officials raided 60 places, belonging to 13 government officials across the state in the wee hours on Wednesday.

The raids are underway at 12 places in Mysuru; five each in Bengaluru, Udupi, and Kolar; four each in Karwar, Bidar, Vijayapura, and Mandya; three in Belagavi; and two in Kodagu.

Properties belonging to Ranganath SP, Chief Engineer, Byatarayanapura & Yelahanka BBMP, Bengaluru; Roopa, Deputy Commissioner, Excise, Udupi; Prakash, Junior Engineer, Karwar; Fayaz Ahmed, Assistant Engineer, Mysuru; Yathish, Panchayat Development Officer, Manchanayakanahalli Gram Panchayat, Bidadi, Ramnagar; Mahesh Chandraiah Hiremath, Range Forest Officer; are being searched by the Lokayukta.

Simultaneously, the officers have also launched raids on the properties of Shivakumar Swamy, Executive Officer, Bidar; Nagarajappa H, Assistant Director, Kolar; Shanmukhappa, Assistant Regional Transport Officer, Jamkhandi, Bagalkot; Sadashivaiah, Assistant Executive Engineer, Chikkaballapur; Krishne Gowda, Second Division Accounts Assistant, Agasanapura Grama Panchayat, Malavalli; and Sadashiva Jayappa, Secretary In-charge, Panchayat Development Officer, Nidagundi Gram, Belagavi.

About 130 Lokayukta officers, including 13 Superintendents of Police (SP), 13 DSPs, 25 police inspectors (PI), and 80 staff members are involved in the crackdown.

This is the first largest crackdown, initiated by the Lokayukta, after it was revamped two months ago