Lokayukta sleuths raid places linked to 8 officers in Karnataka over disproportionate assets

Bengaluru, Jul 23 (PTI) The Lokayukta sleuths on Wednesday carried out searches in premises linked to eight officials, including an IAS officer in disproportionate assets case and unearthed wealth worth Rs 37.42 crore.

The raids were conducted at 41 locations linked to the officers posted in Bengaluru Urban, Mysuru, Tumakuru, Kalaburagi, Koppal and Kodagu districts.

Among those raided is IAS officer Vasanthi Amar B V, who serves as Special Deputy Commissioner at the Railway Infrastructure Development Company, Karnataka (K-RIDE). She was also responsible for the land acquisition for the ambitious Bengaluru Sub-urban Railway Project (BSRP).

According to a statement issued by the Lokayukta, searches at five places of Vasanthi revealed assets valued at Rs 9.03 crore, including three sites, four houses, three acres of agricultural land to the tune of Rs 7.4 crore, ornaments worth Rs 12 lakh, and vehicles worth Rs 90 lakh.
Sources in K-RIDE told PTI that the BSR project has come to a grinding halt as the contractor firm has threatened to stop work due to lack of land acquisition for the project.

The officers targeted in the raid are Manjunathaswamy M, Joint Director Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and livelihood Department in Madikeri, the district headquarters town of Kodagu; B Venkatarama, office Assistant (Admin) Mysuru Mahanagara Palilke, Rajesh M, Assistant Executive Engineer, KIADB, Tumakuru; Sunil Kumar, Executive Engineer, Family and Welfare office, Engineering Section, Kalaburagi.

Other officials are Sheku, Assistant Director, District Industries Centre, Koppal; Bagli Maruti, Assistant Director, City and Rural Project Department, Bengaluru City, and H V Yarappa Reddy, Executive Engineer, BBMP.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)