Karnataka Lokayukta corruption case: SIT gets Ashwin’s custody

BENGALURU: The alleged kingpin of the Lokayukta corruption case and Lokayukta Justice Y Bhaskar Rao’s son Ashwin Yerabati, 45, has been remanded in the SIT custody for 10 days, till August 6.

Ashwin was produced in the Lokayuka Special Court on Tuesday afternoon by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) officials, probing the high-profile corruption case. Ashwin has been arrested in connection with a case filed by P.B. Channabasappa, on whom a Lokayukta raid was conducted in March, 2013, when he was an executive engineer of Chitradurga Zilla Panchayat.

Ashwin’s counsel Sandeep Patil argued in the court that the complaint was filed at 10.25 am with the Lokayukta police and then it was transferred to the SIT at around 11.15 am. “A team of SIT officials were in the house of my client (Ashwin) at 8 am, even before the very registration of the FIR. How can they know that a complaint will be registered against a person and go to his house before the complaint is filed?” he said.

In reply, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP), appointed by the government for this case, K Janardhan informed the court that the SIT team had gone there to inquire Ashwin about his involvement in the extortion case filed by M.N. Krishnamurthy. “When the team was still in his house, they received information from their senior officer in the city that a fresh case has been filed. Based on that, they arrested him. And, it’s left to the discretion of the investigating officer to decide on which case an accused has to be arrested,” Janardhan argued.

Later, he requested the court that the accused shall be remanded in SIT custody for 14 days. When the Judge V.G. Bopaiah asked why the police needed 14 days, Janardhan said, “In the preliminary inquiry, it has been found that Ashwin was making phone calls to officials using multiple SIM cards and multiple handsets. It is important to know whom he has extorted money from and who are his gang members. As he belongs to other state, the police would need to take him to other states. This will need a lot of time.”

Objecting to this, the defence counsel submitted that his client was arrested only in the case related to Channabasappa, for which the SPP said that there is nothing wrong in questioning Ashwin more, as he is involved in multiple cases. Again, the defence counsel argued that there was no necessity of remanding his client in the police custody as there was no documentary evidence against him in the case.

“There are only two points in the complaint related to my client. The complaint stated that Ashwin told the complainant, ‘Don’t worry, I will look into your matter.’ One more is that of the other accused in the case telling the complainant that ‘Just do what he (Ashwin) says’. And these statements cannot be proved and there is no necessity of remanding him in police custody. I leave it to the court to decide on this,” Patil had submitted.

Finally, the judge remanded Ashwin in police custody till August 6 and directed the chief Investigation officer of the SIT, Labhu Ram, that at no point, the accused should be ill-treated and he should be provided medical aid whenever required and food of his choice.

SIT team brings Ashwin to city by road

The alleged kingpin of the Lokayukta corruption scam and son of Lokayukta Justice Y Bhaskar Rao, Ashwin Y, 45, who was arrested by the SIT officials on Monday morning, was brought to the city on Monday night by road.

According to Ashwin’s statement before the Lokayukta Special Court Judge V.G. Bopaiah, a five-member team of SIT officials headed by inspector Balaraj came to his house (‘C’ Block, Rainbow Vista Apartments, Moosapet, Hyderabad) at 8 am on Monday.

“They told me that they wanted to inquire about a case and thereafter my movement was restricted. At 1.30 pm, they issued me a notice. Later, they took me to the local Kukatpally police station and informed the staff there that they had detained me in connection with a case. Then they took me to a lodge, where the policemen had rented a room and later vacated it. After having lunch at a restaurant in Lakdi Ka Pul, we started towards Bengaluru around 4 pm,” he said.

“The police had brought an Innova vehicle in which I was ferried to Bengaluru. We reached the city by 11 pm and they directly took me to the SIT office. After a brief questioning, they informed me that they were arresting me. Around 2.15 am, they took me to the Bowring Hospital for medical check up and then took me back to the SIT office,” he added.

When the judge asked him whether anyone from his family was informed about his arrest, he told that his cousin Venkateshwar Rao was informed by the police about the arrest. Further, he told the court that the police did not ill-treat him.

Ayukta goes on 15 days leave

Following the arrest of his son Ashwin Y, Lokayukta Justice Y Bhaskar Rao has gone on a leave for 15 days. Sources in the Lokayukta said that Justice Rao sent a letter to the Registrar (In-charge), T. Gopalakrishna Rai, and informed him that he was taking leave and reportedly did not mention the purpose. In his absence, the Registrar will be the in-charge head of the institution.

It is learnt that Justice Rao is not there in his official residence and it is not known whether he has gone to Hyderabad. Even the staff in his office has no idea on his whereabouts.
Though there were rumours that Justice Rao may resign following his son’s arrest, he has not stepped down. It is said that he is busy with advocates discussing the legal issues to save his son.

Justice Rao’s move to go on long leave has surprised many, as he regularly came to office even when many organisations were holding protests in front of his office demanding his resignation.