Inspector trapped by Lokayukta while accepting bribe

The Lokayukta police on Wednesday trapped an inspector attached to the K.P. Agrahara police station while he was allegedly accepting a bribe of ₹4 lakh in connection with a chit fund-related case.

The accused inspector, Govindaraju, allegedly demanded money from a man, threatening to implicate him in a chit fund related cheating case if the bribe was not paid.

Acting on the complaint, the Lokayukta police laid a trap and allegedly caught the officer red-handed while accepting the bribe near the CAR Ground, Sirsi Circle.

The inspector has been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act and taken into custody. Further investigation is under way to ascertain whether others were involved.

Sentenced

Meanwhile, in a separate corruption case, the 77th Additional City Civil and Sessions Court, Bengaluru, recently sentenced S. Srinivasa Murthy, former Deputy Commissioner of Excise, Chickballapur district, to three years of simple imprisonment in a disproportionate assets (DA) case.

The court also imposed a fine of ₹1,34,18,645, failing which he will have to undergo an additional one year of simple imprisonment.

According to the Lokayukta police, Murthy was found in possession of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income during the check period from October 1978 to September 2014, in his name and in the names of his family members. A raid conducted in 2014 revealed illegal assets worth ₹1.22 crore.

The accused was charged under relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Pronouncing the verdict, judge Prakash Nayak held the former official guilty after a full-fledged trial.

Searches

Further, the Karnataka Lokayukta police on Thursday, conducted simultaneous search operations at over five locations in connection with a DA case registered against Tejas Kumar N., Assistant Commissioner, who was recently transferred to the Shivamogga Forest Department as manager and is yet to report for duty.

According to Lokayukta officials, the searches revealed that the officer had allegedly amassed assets far beyond his known sources of income. During the operation, the police detected immovable and movable properties worth ₹26, 55, 66,250.

The immovable assets include four sites, eight houses, and 14 acres of agricultural land, collectively valued at ₹25,63,16,250. The movable assets seized during the searches include ₹50,000 in cash and vehicles worth ₹92 lakh

A DA case has been registered against the accused at the Lokayukta Police Station, Bengaluru city, and further investigation is under way to ascertain the source of the assets and identify any benami holdings.