Bengaluru: A comprehensive confidential 200-page report by Superintendent of Police, Lokayukta (City wing), Sonia Narang, which has been handed over to the Special Investigation Team gives graphic description of the corruption scandal in the Lokayukta and the main players behind it.
“Short of stating the obvious, the report reportedly nails the Lokayukta for being privy to the racket. The SIT has to connect the dots after verifying and authenticating the facts in the report and bring out the truth,” said an official source.
The report is in Kannada and has given a blow-by-blow account of the corruption scandal in the Lokayukta, which allegedly involved Lokayukta Justice Bhaskar Rao’s son Ashwin Y., Joint Commissioner (Public Relations) Syed Riyaz, V. Bhaskar alias 420 Bhaskar, Hotte Krishna, Krishna Rao and others. The report is based on the investigation, which was conducted by the SP under the direction of Upalokayukta Justice Subhash B. Adi on June 23, which was ordered following a written complaint by the Jan Sangram Parishath (JSP) on internal corruption in the Lokayukta.
The report gives details of the call detail records (CDR) of the ‘extortionists’ that were made using multiple SIM cards, which were bought on bogus names, photographs and addresses. The report shows that the accused made calls from the Lokayukta office and the official residence of the Lokayukta to government officers demanding hefty bribes to prevent Lokayukta raids.
It also details the complaints that the police wing had received from the ‘victims’ – the aggrieved government officers, who were harassed and threatened over phone after the corruption scandal became public, the internal communication by the Lokayukta to Additional Director General of Police, Lokayukta P.S. Meena, to stop the in-house probe by the SP and Justice Adi’s order to investigate the scam.
Protests against Ayukta continue
Workers of Jaya Karnataka, a pro-Kannada organisation, held protest in 27 Assembly constituencies in the city, demanding immediate resignation of Lokayukta Justice Y Bhaskar Rao.
Protests were held in Hebbal, Gandhinagar, Chikpet and other assembly constituencies. The agitators said that even after the police had registered an FIR against Lokayukta’s son Ashwin Rao, Justice Rao was refusing to quit. “Justice Rao has tarnished the image of the Karnataka Lokayukta, which was earlier a reputed anti-corruption institution in the country.
He should have resigned the moment his son’s name figured in the scam. But now even after an FIR is registered against Ashwin, he is not stepping down. It’s a shameful act,” the agitators said.
The workers also held protest in Sarvajnanagar constituency and took out a march from Hennur to Raj Bhavan demanding his resignation.
AAP attacks Siddaramaiah government
The state chapter of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has attacked Siddaramaiah government over its handling of Lokayukta controversy. The party spokesperson said, “Both Bhaskar Rao and his son Ashwin are involved in the extortion scam and the former must resign. The Lokayukta officials also did not file an FIR when we lodged a complaint. They discarded it citing jurisdiction issues.”
Another AAP volunteer Shivkumar, said, “If the government fails to take proper action against this issue, we will do it for them. We have collected up to 25,000 signature petitions and have generated a lot of digital campaigns. More than 6,000 citizens are a part of this campaign. We will submit this to the Governor and force Rao to resign.” They also condemned other political parties such as Congress, JD(S) and BJP for not fighting this crucial issue.
