Karnataka Lokayukta targets 8 govt officials, including BBMP engineer, in statewide raid
Assets worth over Rs 34 crore have been seized in statewide raids by the Karnataka Lokayukta police.
Large sums of unaccounted cash, gold ornaments, and luxury items recovered by the Karnataka Lokayukta during the raids . ( Express Photo) The Karnataka Lokayukta police said on Tuesday that it carried out simultaneous raids across the state on Tuesday, unearthing assets worth over Rs 34.19 crore allegedly amassed by eight government officials disproportionate to their known sources of income.
The statewide crackdown covered more than 45 locations linked to officers posted in Bengaluru city, Bengaluru Rural, Kalaburagi, Dharwad, Hassan, Gadag and Shivamogga. Teams searched residences, offices, and premises of relatives of the accused after disproportionate asset cases were registered against them.
According to the Lokayukta police, in Bengaluru city, searches on Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Executive Engineer Prakash K S led to the seizure of properties, jewellery, vehicles, and household valuables worth Rs 5.70 crore. In neighbouring Bengaluru Rural, the chief officer of the Anekal municipality, K G Amarnath, was found in possession of assets worth Rs 3.85 crore.
In Kalaburagi, Executive Engineer Mallikarjuna Allipur of the rural development and panchayat raj department had assets valued at Rs 6.32 crore, while Ramachandra Masarakal, panchayat development officer of the Sannuru gram panchayat, in the same district, was found with Rs 2.18 crore in land, properties, and movable assets.
The highest seizures included Rs 6.11 crore from Ashok Lakshmappa Vasanad, chief engineer of the Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Limited’s Malaprabha project zone in Dharwad, and Rs 6.34 crore from Dr Pradeep, a professor and coordinator at the Karnataka State Animal and Fisheries Sciences University, Shivamogga. Apart from gold and land, Dr Pradeep’s properties also included a farmhouse, foreign currency, goats, and cattle.
Lathamani D B, accounts superintendent in the Chikkamagaluru municipal office, was found with assets worth Rs 2.89 crore, while Gadag Town Police Inspector D B Patil had assets valued at Rs 1.48 crore.
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