Karnataka Lokayukta corruption case: Middleman caught, where are the big fish?

Bengaluru: In the first arrest, made by the Special Investigation Team in the FIR which was registered by the Lokayukta police on July 1 against the Lokayukta's son Ashwin Rao, a man named Ashok Kumar was arrested on Monday evening. He was allegedly a conduit between Ashwin and the personal secretary to a Congress MLA, said top official sources.

“Ashok is a middleman. He knew the personal secretary to the MLA and had later introduced Ashwin to him and they have reportedly been involved in using their influence in key postings in Boards and Corporations,” alleged the officer. Ashok (30) is a resident of Rajajinagar in the City. He was working in a security agency and had also dabbled in real estate before making a backdoor entry into the office of the Loakyukta.

According to sources, he had reportedly called up the complainant, Executive Engineer, Zilla Panchayat M.N. Krishnamurthy, to the Lokayukta office on May 4, where he had met Ashwin, who allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs one crore to prevent an anti corruption raid. Mr. Krishnamurthy, who had complained to the Superintendent Lokayukta police (City wing), Sonia Narang had later identified Ashwin on a TV grab.

The SIT however maintained that while Ashok has played a “key role” and is the “prime accused” in the scandal, they need to interrogate him on his network and modus operandi. “We need to verify his involvement,” said an official source.

The SIT was constituted by the government to investigate the alleged corruption scandal in the Lokayukta. Ashok was arrested under Prevention of Corruption Act and Sections 384, 490, 420 r/w 120b of the Indian Penal Code. He was produced before the Lokayukta court and remanded in police custody for 10 days.

Ashwin demanded Rs 25 lakh diamond necklace from Sarawana: Basavaraj Horatti

Diamonds are forever and Lokayukta Justice Bhaskar Rao’s ‘tainted’ son Ashwin Rao obviously knew how to use his clout to extract his share of the precious stones!

The startling revelation was made by Janata Dal (S) floor leader in the Legislative Council Basavaraj Horatti on Tuesday who claimed that Ashwin Rao had summoned JD(S) MLC T.A. Sarawana to Kumara Krupa Guest House in Bengaluru and had demanded a diamond necklace worth Rs 25 lakh from him.

During a discussion on corruption in the Lokayukta, Mr Horatti said Ashwin reportedly called Mr Sarawana on his mobile around three months ago and asked him to come to KK Guest House. Later, Mr Sarawana called Mr Horatti and sought his guidance whether to go and meet Ashwin. When he went to the guest house, Ashwin reportedly told Mr Sarawana that there were allegations against him and demanded a diamond necklace to put a lid on them. "I advised Mr Sarawana not to go and meet Mr Ashwin for anything".

Mr Horatti said a senior officer in the secretariat of the Legislative Council was also allegedly summoned by Ashwin Rao claiming that there were allegations of irregularities in the secretariat. This was the state of affairs in the anti-corruption institution which needs the immediate attention of the government.

At any cost, the Lokayukta office should not be misused by anyone to settle scores. The need of the hour is an amendment of the Ayukta Act and removal of Lokayukta Bhaskar Rao permanently, he said.