Man discharges mother’s office duties at Bengaluru corporation revenue office, arrested
The Bengaluru police have also booked the mother, a second division assistant at the BBMP office, and assistant revenue officer who facilitated the fraudulent activity.
He visited the office on many occasions under the pretext of being a BBMP employee and used to process applications for e-khatas (digital property documents) of the public in the absence of his mother, said the police after a raid held on January 10. (Express File) The 35-year-old son of a woman employee of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has been arrested by the police for impersonating his mother in the office of the BBMP’s assistant revenue officer for the Kempegowda Nagar subdivision at Jayanagar in south Bengaluru.
The presence of Naveen K, 35, at the ARO’s office and his usage of the office computer for processing applications for e-khatas (digital property documents) of citizens – in the absence of his mother Kavitha N, a second-division assistant at the BBMP office, emerged during a search by the Karnataka Lokayukta police of the BBMP office last week.
Kavitha and assistant revenue officer Sujatha, who facilitated the presence of unauthorised persons in the BBMP office to carry out work of the BBMP, have also been booked by the Bengaluru police.
The son of the SDA has been booked under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for impersonation, cheating, criminal breach of trust and criminal trespass while his mother and the ARO have been booked for facilitating the crime.
The Lokayukta police also found that the SDA had appointed a computer operator in the office of the ARO on her own to carry out processing of e-khata applications – without an employment letter from the BBMP.
On the day the Lokayukta police conducted a search at the ARO office the computer operator appointed by the SDA – by personally paying the monthly salary – was absent from work and the login credentials for the e-asthi software at the office were being used that day by the son of the SDA who was doing the computer operator’s work.
The Lokayukta police conducted the search at the BBMP office on the basis of many public complaints of delays in the issue of e-khatas and alleged corruption through middlemen operating at the revenue offices.
According to the police complaint filed by C Narayanaswamy, a Lokayukta police inspector, he was asked to conduct a search at the ARO’s office by the Lokayukta and a search warrant was issued for January 10.
The search was done on the basis of complaints that “Assistant Revenue Officers are illegally collecting money from the public through agents for government work including e-Katha registration in the revenue sub-divisional offices of the BBMP”, says the police complaint.
Around 3.30 pm on January 10, during the search at the ARO’s office, the staff at the office were questioned and all their names and positions were ascertained. One of the persons, identified as Naveen K, 35, who was working on an office computer showed hesitation in providing his credentials, raising the suspicion of the police.
He introduced himself as a contract employee but the police found that it was his mother Kavitha N who was the employee of the office but was absent that day. In her absence her son was found using the login ID and password of the office computer to carry out his mother’s duties as a BBMP officer.
The police found that Naven visited the office on many occasions under the pretext of being a BBMP employee. He also allegedly performed his mother’s duties in the past and “misused the e-aasthi software login ID and password given by the BBMP to his mother” and in this manner “trespassed into the BBMP office and cheated in the guise of a BBMP employee”, police said.
“Naveen’s mother Kavita N and office head Sujata, the Assistant Revenue Officer have facilitated this. SDA Kavita N hired a computer operator, Geeta, for herself without bringing it to the attention of the BBMP. Geeta has not been appointed by the government. The officials have misused their power,” says the Lokayukta police complaint.
Following the complaint, the son of the SDA was arrested while the state officials have sought bail in the case.
BBMP crackdown after unearthing of impersonation case
In the aftermath of the incident, the BBMP has started a cleanup of its many offices in Bengaluru. The BBMP has ordered officers to sign the attendance book every day when they report for duty in the office after it was found that attendance is not maintained at offices.
“The attendance book of the employees who are performing duties on outsourcing basis should also be maintained, but it is found that it is not being maintained,” the BBMP said on Monday. “It has been seen that private persons are being hired unofficially for office duties and the officials themselves are paying handsome remuneration,” the BBMP stated.
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