Gold, diamond jewellery, lakhs in cash seized during Karnataka Lokayukta raids

The Karnataka Lokayukta on Tuesday carried out simultaneous raids across the state, targeting eight government officials. The operation led to significant seizures, including gold and diamond jewellery and Rs 1.5 lakh in cash from the residence of a senior official in Belagavi.

The valuables were found at the Ramtirth Nagar home of Ashok Valsand, Chief Engineer of the Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Limited (KNNL), Dharwad division. His office in Dharwad was also searched by a separate team of Lokayukta officials from the Dharwad unit.

The statewide operation was launched following complaints of disproportionate assets and financial irregularities involving government officers from various departments.

Those under investigation include Prakash, Assistant Engineer with BBMP in Govindrajnagar, Bengaluru, Dr. S Pradeep, Associate Research Director at the Organic Farming Department in Shivamogga, Latha Mani, Accounts Officer with the Town Municipality in Chikkamagaluru, and KG Amarnath, Chief Officer of the Town Municipality in Anekal.

The list also includes Dhruvaraj, Town Police Inspector in Gadag, Mallikarjun Alipur, former Engineer with the RDPR Department in Kalaburagi, and Ramchandra, Panchayat Development Officer in Kalaburagi.

Searches are underway at their homes and offices as officials continue to gather evidence.

On May 8, the Karnataka Lokayukta police conducted raids at multiple locations linked to four government officials, which led to the seizure of unaccounted cash, valuables and several incriminating documents from residences and offices associated with the officials,

As per the Lokayukta, the officials under investigation were Survey Supervisor in the office of the Additional Director of Land Records in Kolar Taluk Suresh Babu G; Raja Venkatappa Nayak, who is a Taluk Health Officer in Surpur, Yadgir district; MB Ravi, an Assistant Executive Engineer with the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board in Davangere, and G Srinivas Murthy, Assistant Executive Engineer in the Water Resources Department, Mahadevapura.

The Lokayukta had conducted a similar raid in April against a government engineer in Ballari; assets worth over Rs 8 crore were recovered, including luxury cars, properties and gold in that raid.

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