‘Tainted’ government officials feel ACB heat

NT Correspondent
Bengaluru:

In a major crackdown against government officials accused of amassing wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in the state on Friday raided 21 officers across 80 locations, including Namma city.

The ACB teams, comprising 300 officers and staff, swooped down on the government officials in a coordinated effort during the wee hours of Friday, police said. The personnel found valuables and cash, besides investment documents, from the houses belonging to the government officials. The officials, who were raided, include engineers in the Irrigation Department, Public Works Department, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj.

In Bengaluru, the raids were carried out across 10 locations in connection with two officers, sources said. A raid on a Janardhanam, a retired registrar of evaluation in Bengaluru North University, ACB officials have allegedly seized Rs 4 lakh in cash, one kg of gold, 3 kg of silver ornaments and documents of land each in Nagadevanahalli and Vishveshwarayya Layout.The police also found an under- construction restaurant near Bengaluru-Mysuru Road under the name of his son. Several property documents were in the name of Janardhanam’s wife too, sources said.

Further, the personnel discovered documents which showed that Rs 35 lakh each had been paid in advance for the purchase of three flats in different flats in the city. It was also found that Venkateshwara Charitable Trust owned by Janardhanam was running an international school and a management college in Chittoor. Janardhanam’s wife heads the Telugu Department at Bangalore University.

Another official, Shivalingaiah, who reportedly had been working as a gardener in the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) office in Banashankari, was also raided. The ACB personnel were surprised to find that he owned three houses and five vacant sites in the city. Shivalingaiah, who reportedly draws a monthly salary of Rs 48,000, also owned commercial land parcels of 1.1 acres, 10 guntas and 1.2 acres in Channapatna district.

Across the state, a police inspector, a district registrar in the office of the Inspector General of Registration, Road Transport Officer, a Project Director of the Nirmiti Kendra, Panchayat grade-2 secretary in Gadag district, and assistant comptroller in the veterinary department were also among those whose premises were raided.

The ACB this year has targeted officials across government departments, going from the Karnataka Administrative Service (KAS) to the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), seizing precious metals, documents, cars and other valuables. Further investigations are underway.

List of officials who have been raided by the ACB

1. Bheema Rao Y Pawar-Superintendent Engineer, Belagavi
2. Harish-Assistant Engineer, minor irrigation, Udupi
3. Ramakrishna HV, Assistant Engineer, minor irrigation, Hassan
4. Rajiv Purasaiah Nayak, Assistant Engineer, PWD, Karwar
5. BR Bopaiah, Junior Engineer, Ponnampet Zilla panchayat
6. Madhusudhan, District Registrar, IGR office, Belgaum
7. Parameshwarappa, Assistant Engineer, minor irrigation,
Huvinadagali
8. Yellappa N Padasali, RTO, Bagalkot
9. Shankarappa Nagappa Gogi, Project Director, Nirmiti
Kendra, Bagalkot
10. Pradeep S Alur, Panchayat Grade Two secretary, RDPR, Gadag
11. Siddappa T, Deputy chief electrical officer, Bengaluru, 12 Tippanna
P Sirsagi, District Programme Officer, Bidar
12. Two teams consisting of 11 officers conducted searches at
two places simultaneously and are verifying the documents.
13. Mrityunjaya Channabasavaiah Tirani, Assistant comptroller,
Karnataka veterinary, animal and fishery sciences University, Bidar
14. Mohan Kumar, Executive Engineer, Irrigation, Chikkaballapur
District
15. Sridhar, District Registrar, Karwar
16. Manjunath G, Retd EE, PWD
17. Shivalingaiah, Group C, BDA
18. Udaya Ravi, Police Inspector, Koppal
19. BG Thimmaiah, case worker, Kadur Purasabhe
20. Chandrappa C Holekar, UTP office, Ranebennur
21. Janardhan, Retd Registrar evaluations (land), Bengaluru.