Anti corruption raids in Karnataka yield Rs 400 million

Surprise raids carried out by the Lokayukta, the anti-corruption wing of the Karnataka police, on the houses of eight senior Government officials across the State on Tuesday have unearthed properties and assets worth a staggering Rs 400 million, which were disproportionate to their known sources of income.

A Motor Vehicles Inspector in Belgaum Mahesh Shankar Hanumashetty turned out to be a big catch as the official, who has been working with the Road Transport Authority for the last seventeen years, was sitting on a pile of Rs 220 million that included two palatial commercial complexes in Belgaum.

Giving details of the raids, Lokayukta Justice (Retd) Santosh Hegde said the Motor Vehicles Inspector also owned a company called Popular Earth Movers in which his mother and other relatives are directors.

The other officials, whose houses were raided by the Lokayukta police included Additional Superintendent of Police, Bangalore, Kumar Karning, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Davangere, H Anjaneya, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Security), Vidhana Soudha, Bangalore, Laxman Singh, Municipal Commissioner of Ramanagaram Shivanna, Executive Engineer of Koppal Zilla Panchayat, besides Assistant Commissioners of Police, Bangalore, Pratap Singh and H K Venkataswamy.

Stunned by the details of the properties amassed by the Government officials, Hegde said some of the officials had assets worth a thousand times more than their known sources of income. During the raid, Hegde said the officials had tried to hoodwink the Lokayukta sleuths by hiding the documents, throwing away the keys and trying to send documents out in bags.

Hegde said the Deputy Superintendent of Police in Davangere Kumar Karning has been service since 1977. “But, the police official is worth Rs 31.2 million now”, he said.

Hegde also sought to brush aside allegations that the Lokayukta was targeting only police and Road Traffic Authority officials. “We are not targeting any particular class of officials, but only corrupt officials”, he said.