Karnataka: ACB raids on 18 officials expose unaccounted cash, assets

Bengaluru: In a major crackdown against government officials accused of amassing wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income, the Anti-Corruption Bureau in Karnataka on Wednesday raided 18 officers across 75 locations in 10 districts, including Bengaluru, ACB officials said.

The ACB teams comprising 100 officers and 300 personnel swooped down on the government officials in a coordinated effort at daybreak.

Sources in the ACB said a note counting machine and 3.17 kg of sandalwood was found in the house of Badami range forest officer Shivananda Khedagi in the district headquarters town of Bagalkote. The ACB sleuths detected 450 grams of gold, 5 kg silver ornaments, 25 acres land, 12 residential plots and Rs 1.5 lakh cash in the possession of Shirastedar of Gadag district B S Annigeri. The gold ornaments were allegedly hidden in the dustbin to escape the notice of the ACB officials.

The ACB said those who were raided on Wednesday include Additional Commissioner Transport in Bengaluru Gnanendra Kumar; BDA Town Planning Officer Rakesh Kumar; Range Forest Officer of Yadgir, Ramesh Kankatte; executive engineer of Gokak Basavaraj Shekar Reddy Patil; and Vijayapura Nirmiti Kendra project manager Gopinath Malagi.

Industries and Commerce Additional Director B K Shivakumar, Ramanagara Assistant Commissioner Manjunath, Social Welfare Department General Manager Srinivas, Davangere environment officer Maheshwarappa, Haveri APMC assistant engineer Krishnan, Gundlupet excise inspector Chaluvaraj, N H supervising assistant engineer Girish, Vijayanagara police station inspector Balakrishna H N were also among those raided by the ACB.