Municipal Commissioner, AEE caught by Lokayukta officials while accepting bribe from Hassanamba event contractor

Hassan: The Hassan Municipal Commissioner and an Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) have been caught by Lokayukta officials while accepting bribe from a contractor to release the cleanliness tender bill for the Hassanamba Jatra Mahotsava.

Hassan Municipal Commissioner Narasimha Murthy and Assistant Executive Engineer (Environment) K.R. Venkatesh are the officials who fell into the trap of the Lokayukta police.

The contractor had complained to the Lokayukta police about the officials who demanded Rs. 1.5 lakh to release the cleanliness tender bill for the Hassanamba Jatra Mahotsava totalling Rs. 10.50 lakh.

As per the trap laid earlier, while the officials were accepting bribes in the office on Thursday, a raid was conducted under the leadership of Lokayukta Inspectors Balu and Shilpa and both of them were taken into custody while the bribe money was seized.

Another incident

Another incident took place in the municipal office premises, where municipal council members tried to exert pressure on behalf of an officer who had fallen into the Lokayukta trap while accepting bribe money and tried to pressure the authorities into releasing the officer from Lokayukta custody.

They told the raiding team that the AEE K.R. Venkatesh was “very good” and that he should be spared and that they were “free to take the Commissioner into custody”.

They tried to convince the Lokayukta inspectors that Venkatesh had “no role in accepting bribes” and that only the Municipal Commissioner was at fault.

Lokayukta Inspector Balu, who was outraged by such intimidating tactics, said, “We caught both of them red-handed while they were receiving the bribes. We have not targeted innocent officials. All necessary rules have been followed while implementing the swoop.”