Kalakappa Nidagundi, a former clerk who worked at the Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited (KRIDL), was discovered to have owned unaccounted assets worth over ₹30 crore. The man who used to work in Koppal and had a monthly salary of ₹15,ooo, owned 24 houses, four plots and 40 acres of farmland.
Four vehicles, 350 grams of gold, and 1.5 kg of silver were also recovered during the raids.
The investigation revealed that Nidagundi, along with a former KRIDL engineer, Z.M. Chincholkar, allegedly embezzled more than ₹72 crore.
The properties were in his name, his wife’s and her brother's. He allegedly siphoned off over ₹72 crore by faking documents for over 96 incomplete projects, which included sewage, road, and drinking water initiatives across several villages in the district from 2019 to 2025. The fake projects included 19 in Kanakagiri, five in Gangavathu, four in Yelburga and 68 in Koppal taluk.
Nidagundi was dismissed from service a few months ago, while Chincholikar retained his position following a court order, despite his dismissal.
The fraud was exposed after a raid by the Karnataka Lokayukta Officials as part of its crackdown on potential misuse of official positions and amassment of wealth more than the declared sources of income, NDTV reported.
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Earlier this week, they had conducted searches in places linked to five government officials in Hassan, Chikkabalapura, Chitradurga and Bengaluru.
A formal complaint had been lodged with the Lokayukta after instructions from the KRIDL by MD Basavaraju, executive engineers Anil Patil and Anand Karalkunti, prompting the anti-corruption agency to launch an investigation and search operation.’’
On July 23, searches revealed that an IAS officer possessed disproportionate assets and recovered wealth worth ₹ 37.42 crores.
The raids were conducted at 41 locations around the state. IAS officer Vasanthi Amr B V, who serves as Special Deputy Commissioner at the railway infrastructure Development company Karnataka (K-RIDE), was one of those who were raided. Officials recovered assets worth ₹9.03 crore, including three sites, four houses, three acres of agricultural land that amounted to ₹7.2 crore and ornaments and vehicles worth 12 lakh and 90 lakh each.