It was raining money at Mantri Greens, an upscale apartment in Bengaluru on Friday. As soon as T.R. Swamy, a chief development officer (land acquisition) at the Karnataka Industrial Development Board, opened the door of his 14th floor apartment, he sensed danger and slammed it shut. He did not want to get caught and had to get rid of all the evidence because it was the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) knocking on his door.
After collecting all the unaccounted money, gold and documents in two bags, one suitcase and another cloth bag, he threw it down from his bathroom ventilator. He then arranged for an autorickshaw driver to pick it up. But the ACB was smarter than Swamy and had anticipated the move. They collected the suitcase which contained Rs 3.5 crore before the autorickshaw driver could.
A cloth bag that was stuck on the electric pipes and another one containing documents and currency notes worth Rs 10 lakh were recovered by the ACB officials. Besides Rs 4.52 crore in cash, ACB officials recovered documents pertaining to 10 acres of land, 10 sites and eight houses from Swamy's residence.
Residents in the apartment had a field day with the raid. Some were busy taking pictures of the cloth bags stacked with money while some others posted updates on social media. Next morning, housekeeping staff were observed scanning the area for any leftover packages.
Raids were conducted at properties of N.G. Gowdaiah, an engineer of the Bengaluru Development Authority, as well. ACB officials unearthed documents pertaining to the purchase of eight plots, two houses and 14 apartments from Gowda's house. The raid also revealed papers of bank deposits worth Rs 30 lakh. The valuables seized from his residence include 4.5 kg of gold ornaments, three kg of gold and 10 kg of silver, besides three cars, three bikes and cash worth Rs 75 lakh. The raids were carried out after a case of disproportionate assets was filed against Swamy and Gowdaiah. ACB seized a total of Rs 5.2 crore cash in these raids.
