By Shankar Raj*
Bengaluru: In one of the largest crackdowns in recent times on government officials, over 400 Anti-Corruption Bureau officials raided over 60 locations and houses in Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Mandya, Ballari and Kalburgi, on NOvember 24, 2021.
The extent of corruption was such that the ACB officials had to summon plumbers and workers to ‘flush out’ wads of currency notes and jewellery from pipelines at the residence of PWD joint engineer Shantha Gowda Biradar in Kalburgi district.
PLUMBERS SUMMONED
Over Rs 25 lakh in currency notes and a huge quantity of jewellery were found in what looked like pipelines from outside. People recorded the raid from outside the house as the plumbers removed sections of pipes and dumped currency notes and jewellery into a bucket.
Apart from the house of Biradar, the ACB, raided locations belonging to Mangalore Smart City Executive Engineer K S Lingegowda, Mandya Executive Engineer Srinivas K, Doddaballapura Revenue Inspector Lakshminarashimaiah, Former Project Manager of Bengaluru Nirmiti Kendra Vasudev, Bengaluru Nandini Dairy general manager B Krishna Reddy, Gadag Agriculture Department, Joint Director T S Rudreshappa and Bailahongala cooperative development officer A K Masti among others.
CASES REGISTERED
“Today the ACB conducted searches in 60 places with respect to disproportionate assets cases registered against 15 officers by a team of 8 superintendents of police, 100 officers and 300 staff,” the ACB said in a statement.
ACB sources said they seized property related documents, huge quantities of gold and silver ornaments, cash and investment documents from them. Nearly 7 kg gold and Rs 15 lakh in cash were recovered from Gadag Agriculture Department Joint Director Rudreshappa’s residence.
The ACB had recently raided the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) officials in connection with the alleged irregularities in the allotment of plots in a few layouts developed by BDA.
After the raid on BDA officials, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had said that hid government will not tolerate corruption in any form. The government will act on the basis of the report submitted by the ACB, he added.
*Shankar Raj is former Editor of The New Indian Express, Karnataka and Kerala, and writes regularly on current affairs. The views expressed are personal.
