Principal held on bribery charges

The anti-corruption branch of the CBI arrested the principal of Kendriya Vidyalaya (I) in Rajnagar, Hubballi, recently on charges of demanding a bribe from the parents of a student for giving a seat in the school.

Principal Siddharoodha T Mathre is charged with demanding Rs 50,000 from an armyman Basavaraj Sannapoojar, who wanted to get his son admitted to the fourth standard after being transferred.

The student in question, Chetan, was studying at the KV in Chandigarh, where his father was posted. Basavaraj, a native of Hubballi, was transferred to Leh in Jammu and Kashmir. So, he wanted to shift his family to his native place and admit his son to the KV.

When he approached Siddharoodha to get his son admitted, Basavaraj was shocked when the principal demanded Rs 50,000 or a mixer grinder and five bottles of high-quality liquor available at the military canteen. Basavaraj registered a complaint with the CBI, Bengaluru branch. The investigation agency, which registered a complaint and conducted a preliminary investigation, took Siddharoodha to Bengaluru and arrested him on Sunday.

After the news of the arrest spread, several parents who got their children admitted there, after being transferred, said the principal had taken money from them also.