Karnataka   

Raids conducted on officials

BANGALORE: The Lokayukta police on Thursday raided the offices and residences of five government officials, including a Range Forest Officer who is alleged to have links with a mining company, and traced assets totalling Rs. 9.89 crore disproportionate to their known sources of income.

The officials in the net are Khaja Mohinuddin, Range Forest Officer, Tirthahalli Training Centre; B.T. Chowhan, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Dharwad; C. Krishnappa, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Dharwad; V. Nagesh, Police Sub-Inspector, Bangalore Crime Branch; and G. Tambad, Regional Transport Officer, Davangere. Mr. Mohinuddin’s wife and his elder brother run a mining firm, Pooja Mining Company, at Chikkanayakanahalli in Tumkur district, Rupak Kumar Dutta, Additional Director-General of Police (Lokayukta), told presspersons. Unlike earlier instances, the Lokayukta police this time limited the raids to five government servants. “We did this to have a better command over the entire operation,” said Mr. Dutta.

Mr. Nagesh, who joined service in 1974, was found to have assets worth Rs. 4.64 crore. Apart from his house in Ramohalli near Kengeri in Bangalore, the houses of his two sons-in-law and a daughter were also searched. The assets include a choultry, a two-storeyed building with a swimming pool, and a school building in Ramohalli. A three-storeyed building in Madiwala is in the name of his daughter Rekha, and a two-storeyed building in Ramohalli is in the name of another daughter, Kusuma. His wife, Chandramma, has given two houses on rent and has 1.20 acres of land. Documents related to 2.32 acres of land were found in the Nagesh’s son-in-law Laxminarayana Raju.

The Lokayukta police suspect Mr. Nagesh’s involvement in real estate dealings with the recovery of 29 blank, signed stamp papers and sale deeds worth Rs. 27 lakh. They also found a car, a multi-utility vehicle, an ambulance and Rs. 2.5 lakh in cash.

Mr. Krishnappa has assets worth Rs. 2.64 crore, including a business complex worth Rs. 1 crore, near Hinkal, on the Ring Road in Mysore. He also has 25 acres of converted land in University Layout, Mysore. His wife has 15.15 acres of land with a farmhouse in Srirangapatna. Mr. Chowhan has properties worth Rs. 42.19 lakh in his hometown of Bagalkot and Bijapur district. From Mr. Tambad, the police seized documents related to properties worth Rs. 1.37 crore, including a house, a site and 10 acres of land in Davangere.

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