Lokayukta raids against govt officials underway in K'taka as NIA continues raids in coastal districts

A series of comprehensive raids is currently underway in multiple locations across Karnataka by the Lokayukta, targeting government officials suspected of accumulating assets beyond their legitimate means of income.

These raids are being carried out at the residences, offices, and private properties of the individuals in various districts, including Bengaluru, Tumakuru, Haveri, Mysuru, and Bidar.

During the ongoing operation, the investigating teams are meticulously examining the property documents and scrutinizing the bank account details of the officials in question.

One of the targets of these raids is Ramesh, the technical director of BESCOM, whose residence located in Basaveshwaranagar, Bengaluru, has been subject to a search by the authorities. Further information regarding another location being raided is yet to be disclosed.

Simultaneously, the residence of Narasimhamurthy, an officer with KIADB, is being searched in the Tumakuru district. In Haveri district, the focus is on Vageesh Shettar, an engineer from the Nirmithi Centre, whose residence in Ranebennur town and the Nirmithi office within the premises of the Haveri city's District Commissioner's office are both under scrutiny.

Mahesh Kumar, an officer affiliated with the Mysuru City Corporation, is another target, with his residence in Nivedithanagar, Mysuru, being raided. Additionally, a team of 13 officers is conducting searches at various locations, including Kumar's farmhouse.

Sources indicate that the Lokayukta's team has also initiated raids in Chitaguppa taluk of Bidar district as part of their operations.

NIA conducts raids in Coastal K'taka

Meanwhile, in coastal Karnataka, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is conducting raids at 16 different locations with the assistance of local authorities, at Belthangady, Puttur and Bantwal of Dakshina Kannada district.

According to sources, the raids were conducted to track down hawala transactions of some local suspects from the Gulf nations, which had been made allegedly to carry out terrorist and anti-national activities, sources said.

The sources said that the NIA crackdown was to break the hawala network of banned organisation, the Popular Front of India (PFI), after the trail of the Phulwari Sharif terror module case which came to light in Patna, Bihar. 

Earlier, NIA had arrested Mohammad Sinon, a Bantwal resident, Sarfaraz Nawaz and Iqbal from Sajipa Mooda, Abdul Rafeeq from Puttur in this connection.

(With inputs from IANS)