Janardhan Reddy case: Pawn in a powerful game to beat cash ban, says driver
Bengaluru: Was a gullible car driver made a pawn by a powerful KAS officer and a mining baron to get the now banned Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes converted into legal tender? Was this the reason which drove driver Ramesh Gowda to commit suicide fearing that Income Tax sleuths and the Enforcement Directorate would arrest him for his complicity in this illegal activity?
Fresh details are slowly emerging in this shady episode in which KAS officer Bheema Naik lent a more than generous helping hand to former BJP minister Janardhan Reddy, getting old notes changed for new currency before the recent marriage of Reddy's daughter. Ramesh Gowda, a driver attached with Bengaluru Land Acquisition Officer Bheem Naik, committed suicide by hanging himself at a lodge in Maddur taluk of Mandya district. The deceased had reportedly left behind a death note explaining the 'corrupt deeds' of Bheem Naik.
Sources said Ramesh Gowda was working as an adhoc employee with Mysugar before he purchased a car and started running it as a taxi. It is still a mystery how he came in touch with Bheema Naik.
If sources are to be believed, Naik allegedly used the bank accounts of Ramesh Gowda for exchange of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes for the new Rs 2000 currency. After IT sleuths and the Enforcement Directorate conducted raids on several corrupt babus, Ramesh Gowda panicked fearing arrest by investigative agencies for allegedly using his bank accounts for the exchange of banned notes. He left behind a 12-page death note which has been seized by the cops who are checking bank transactions of Gowda in the last one month. Meanwhile, police have submitted a letter to the state chief secretary seeking his permission to question Bheema Naik, who is still at large. The cops are baffled why Ramesh Gowda did not file a complaint after he allegedly received death threats as he has claimed. The CCTV footage of the hotel where he committed suicide, is being examined to check if anyone else accompanied Gowda when he checked into the hotel.
