The Investigation into the illegal lottery racket in Karnataka will be handed over to the CBI, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced on Tuesday. The decision comes at a time when the Opposition is demanding that the Congress-led government must step down for failing to control the illegal lottery business. Prior to the decision, the CID wing of Karnataka police was probing the racket. [related-post] Speaking at a press conference, Siddaramaiah said: “We want to maintain the image of the government. The Opposition parties are giving a wrong impression to the people. That’s why we have decided to hand over investigations to the CBI. Let the CBI probe what has been happening before and after lotteries were banned in the state in 2007.’’ The CM said JDS and BJP had not handed over a single probe to the CBI when they ruled the state. “Deve Gowda called the CBI the Chor Bachao Institution and the BJP called it the Congress Bureau of Investigation. Now they want a CBI probe. We don’t need to learn lessons on probity from the corrupt. Let CBI reveal the names of all those involved,” he said. Meanwhile, JDS leader H D Kumaraswamy accused two more senior IPS officers of being involved with the lottery mafia and collecting payoffs to the tune of Rs 60 lakh from a notorious inter-state lottery kingpin Santiago Martin, who has over 30 cases against him. The alleged involvement of senior IPS officers with the lottery mafia emerged nearly two months ago after a key local operator Pari Rajan was caught bragging about his connections in a sting operation by a local news channel. Following the sting, the Karnataka government had suspended R Dharnendra, an SP of lottery enforcement wing, and ordered a probe by the CID. The CID probe revealed that at least six senior IPS officers in the state allegedly had links with Rajan. CID’s interim report to the government last week had named Bangalore’s additional commissioner of police Alok Kumar, a 1994 batch IPS officer who is currently an IGP, for being in frequent touch with Rajan. The officer was also accused of attempting to prevent a sub-inspector from arresting Rajan. Based on the CID report, the state government suspended Kumar on Saturday. Ever since the links between police and the lottery mafia came to light, the Opposition had been demanding the government’s resignation and a CBI probe into the matter.
