IFS man among five raided by Lokayukta; 15 crore assets unearthed

Mangalore Today News Network

Bangalore, May 30, 2014: The Karnataka state Lokayukta on Thursday conducted simultaneous raids at premises belonging to five government officials including a 1987 batch Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Hari Kumar Jha and unearthed illegal assets to the tune of over Rs 15 crore.

The raids were conducted after criminal cases were registered against the officials under the provision of the Prevention of Corruption Act based on information collected by Lokayukta officials.

Additional Director General of Police (Lokayukta) HN Sathyanarayana Rao said that raids were conducted at 10 premises including property belonging to Hari Kumar Jha, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and Managing Director of Mysore Sales International Limited (MSIL).

According to the Lokayukta police they have found property worth Rs 2.65 core including an under construction commercial complex at HSR Layout worth Rs 1.4 crore, a house in RMV II stage worth Rs 60 lakh, both in Bangalore, and some agricultural land in the officer’s native Dumra village in the Madhubani district of Bihar.

The other four officials whose properties were searched are BL Ravindra Babu, Superintending Engineer, PWD (irrigation); S Padmanabhan, Director for finance, Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, Bangalore; R Bhaskar, an Assistant Secretary of Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) and Srinivasa Murthy, Deputy Commissioner, Excise Department, Chikkaballapur.

The Lokayukta’s findings from the officials and their assets details:

1. Hari Kumar Jha, IFS, Bangalore: His total asset and expenditure is Rs 3.49 crore against an income of Rs 1.75 crore.

2. BL Ravindra Babu, Superintending Engineer, PWD, Bangalore: His total asset and expenditure is Rs 11.83 crore against an income of Rs 2.78 crore.

3. S. Padmanabhan, Director for finance, Karntaka State Road Transport Corporation, Bangalore: His total asset and expenditure is Rs 4.54 crore against an estimated income of Rs 2.19 crore.

4. R Bhaskar, an Assistant Secretary at the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB), Bangalore: His total asset and expenditure is Rs1.59 crore against an estimated income of Rs70 lakh.

5. Srinivasa Murthy, deputy commissioner, Excise Department, Chikkaballapur: His total asset and expenditure is Rs 2.45 crore against an income of Rs 80 lakh.