The Karnataka Lokayukta said it raided 12 government officials, including a former director of the school education department, and seized disproportionate assets worth Rs 38 crore on Tuesday. The raids were conducted at the houses of officials in and around Bengaluru, Chitradurga, Davanagere, Haveri, Bidar, Udupi, Bagalkot, and Hassan.
The Lokayuka police said they seized properties worth Rs 7.32 crore during the raids on the premises of V Sumangala, a former director of the Department of School Education, Research and Training (DSERT). Sumangala was suspended in July last year for allegedly causing a loss of Rs 1.62 crore to the department by awarding an e-waste tender to an ineligible company.
The Lokayukta said that in Sumangala’s case, the raids were conducted at six places, adding that they attached four sites, five houses, 19 acres of agricultural land, ornaments worth about Rs 1 crore, vehicles worth Rs 22 lakh, shares and mutual funds worth Rs 96.73 lakh, among other assets.
The others who were raided and the worth of their seized assets are Manjunatha G, Medical Officer, Maternity Hospital, Mallasandra, Bengaluru (Rs 3.24 crore); N K Gangamarigowda, Surveyor, Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board, Bengaluru (Rs 4.66 crore); N Chandrashekar, Assistant Director (Agriculture), Holalkere, Chitradurga (Rs 5.14 crore); Jagadeesh Nayka K H, Assistant Engineer, Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited, Davanagere (Rs 2.04 crore); B S Naduvina Mane, Junior Assistant, Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Davanagere (Rs 2.30 crore); Basavesh Shivappa Shidenur, in-charge executive officer, Savanuru taluk panchayath, Haveri (Rs 1.67 crore); Ashok Shanrappa Araleshwar, Revenue Inspector, taluk office, Ranebennur, Haveri (Rs 2.25 crore); Dhoolappa, Assistant Director, Department of Horticulture, Orad, Bidar (Rs 3.39 crore); Lakshminarayana P Nayak, Regional Transport Officer, Udupi (Rs 2.21 crore); Chethan, Junior Engineer, Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Limited, Almatti Right Bank Canal, Division-2, Kamatagi, Bagalkot (Rs 1.67 crore); Jyothi Meri, Food Safety and Drug Administration, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Hassan (Rs 2.17 crore).