(MENAFN- AsiaNet News) Following Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids, Lokayukta officials conducted simultaneous raids across Karnataka on Thursday morning to enforce a crackdown on corruption. The statewide operation targeted residences and offices of several officials suspected of possessing assets beyond their known income sources.
Raid across 9 districts
Lokayukta teams swooped down on nine districts, carrying out searches in 56 locations. A formidable team of 100 officers is involved in investigating 11 cases of corruption. The districts under the scanner include Kalaburagi, Dharwad, Chitradurga, Belgaum, Mandya, Davangere, Kolar, Mysore, and Hassan.
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Mandya
In Mandya, officials raided the residence of retired Executive Engineer Sivaraju following allegations of disproportionate assets. Inspections were also carried out in Mysore, targeting properties linked to Sivaraju and his relatives. Lokayukta SP Suresh Babu led the operation, with properties in Nagamangala's Ijjalaghat, including a farmhouse, a crusher, and the homes of Sivaraju and his son-in-law, under inspection.
Mysuru
In Mysore, the house of Mahesh K., Superintendent Engineer of the Irrigation Department, was raided. Lokayukta officials are inspecting his residence in JC Nagar and his office in Gokulam. The operation is part of an investigation into allegations of amassing wealth beyond his known sources of income, with a farmhouse in Tumbala village also coming under scrutiny.
Hassan
Early morning raids in Hassan targeted the Nandagodanahalli residence of NM Jagadish, a Grade 1 secretary of Belur taluk, and his property in Bengaluru. The operation is based on accusations of disproportionate asset accumulation.
Davangere
In Davanagere, Lokayukta officials raided the homes and offices of two BESCOM engineers. A total of eight locations, including sites within Davangere city, were searched.
Chikkamagaluru
KPTCL Executive Engineer D.H. Umesh's properties in Davangere and Hosadurga taluk were targeted. His house in Atapile village, a godown in KIDB Karuru zone, and the residence of BESCOM Vigilance Division AEE M.S. Prabhakar were among the locations raided.
Kalaburagi
Basavaraj Magi, a revenue officer with BBMP's Kengeri Division, faced raids at his Kalaburagi residence. Originally from Kalaburagi, Magi's properties in both Bengaluru and Kalaburagi were scrutinized for documents and evidence.
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Chitradurga
In Chitradurga, the house and farmhouse of retired engineer and JDS leader M. Ravindra were raided. Properties in Vinayaka barangay, Sooguru Farmhouse, and a bottling factory near Aimangala were inspected. Ravindra, who contested and lost the last election from Hiriyur Assembly Constituency, had previously faced IT raids during his campaign.
Belagavi
In Belagavi, Lokayukta officials raided the residence of Mahadev Bannur, Assistant Executive Engineer of the Zilla Panchayat. Bannur's house on the outskirts of Yallur was searched for documents. This follows an earlier raid where Rs 27 lakh was allegedly found at his residence.
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