The Lokayukta police raided 13 State government officials across the State, including the brother-in-law of the newly appointed BJP State president B.Y. Vijayendra, after registering Disproportionate Assets cases on Tuesday (December 5). The raid on Dr. Prabhulinga K. Mankar, District Health Officer, Yadgir district, a relative of Mr. Vijayendra, has raised eyebrows among political circles.
While most BJP leaders did not react to these raids, senior BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, a dissenting leader against Mr. Vijayendra, used the raids to attack the party chief.
“Be it anyone, someone who is corrupt is always corrupt and let him be from any party, action needs to be taken against him. How can honest people survive when the corrupt are made leaders? Whose money was recovered from the house of conductor Umesh? Whoever has looted Karnataka, be it Yediyurappa or D.K. Shivakumar, everyone should pay for it,” he said.
It can be recalled that M.R. Umesh, posted in the Chief Minister’s Office on deputation during B.S. Yediyurappa and later Basavaraj Bommai’s tenure, was removed from there after Income Tax sleuths raided him and reportedly uncovered large amounts of suppressed income.
Lokayukta police on Tuesday raided Dr. Mankar’s house at Karuneshwar Nagar in Kalaburagi and his farmhouse on the city’s outskirts. They also raided his house and office at Yadgir. As per sources in Lokayukta, documents pertaining to movable and immovable assets worth ₹1.49 crore belonging to Dr. Mankar were recovered in the raids.
Raids on the premises belonging to Channakeshava H.D., Executive Engineer, KPTCL, presently posted with Bescom Jayanagar Sub-Division, led to the recovery of ₹1.4 crore in cash, three kg of gold, 28 kg of silver articles, and diamonds worth ₹25 lakh and documents pertaining to other investments totalling to ₹13 crore.
Other officials who were raided on Tuesday include: H.S. Krishnamurthy, Chief Executive (Secretary), KMF, Ramanagara; T.N. Sudhakar Reddy, Deputy General Manager, Bescom Vigilance, Bengaluru; Basavaraj, (retd) Junior Engineer, Grade-2, Urban Divisional Store, Hescom, Hubballi; Mahadevaswamy M.S, lecturer, Govt First Grade College, Nanjanagudu, Mysuru; Thimmarajappa G., Executive Engineer, KRIDL, Vijayapura; H.D. Narayana Swamy, (retd) Vice Chancellor, Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries University, Bidar; and Sunil Kumar, Account Assistant, Controller of Finance Office, Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries University, Bidar.
As many as 20 teams conducted the raids at 65 locations in nine districts simultaneously.
