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Raids: investigation to be expedited in Karnataka

Staff Reporter

Justice should not be delayed, says Lokayukta

Bangalore: Lokayukta N. Venktachala, whose term ends on June 30, has said he would complete the investigation of cases of disproportionate wealth slapped on the five police officers, who were arrested after their residences were raided on Tuesday.

"Normally cases based on raids take months or even years because documents have to be traced, examined and authenticated. In this case, I have directed the Lokayukta officials to expedite the matter so that justice is not delayed," Mr. Venkatachala told presspersons here on Thursday.

"The ongoing investigation will reveal if the arrested police officers enjoy any political patronage or have powerful persons backing them," the Lokayukta said. With the Government responding favourably, these cases should reach their "logical end" before long, he remarked.

The Lokayukta police have now identified more property reportedly acquired by P. Shivanna, Circle Inspector, Yeshwantpur. The officer and his family own a three-storeyed house in Rajajinagar 2nd Stage, E Block, estimated to cost close to Rs. l crore.

Complaints galore

Since Wednesday, complaints have come to the Lokayukta, alleging that Mir Arif Ali, Inspector, Koramangala, did not register cases of robbery.

One of the complainants identified one of the pieces of jewellery found in the police officer's bank locker during the raids. The complainant is a software engineer.

Another complaint from a resident of Jeevanbimanagar said the inspector had closed as undetected a case registered based on his complaint of a burglary in his house. The complainant has asked to be shown the seized jewellery to identify if those burgled from his home are among them.

A complaint from a resident of Sarjapur, Usha Gopinath, a software engineer that the inspector did not register a case against her in-laws for harassing her and tried to evict her from the joint family house despite repeatedly approaching the police station.

The Lokayukta said: "These incidents should be an eye-opener for the Government to keep a close watch on officials who appear to be wealthy beyond their means and order investigation."

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