KAS officer and village assistant arrested by Lokayukta Police in Shivamogga

Lokayukta Police in Shivamogga on Saturday arrested two people, including a KAS officer, as they were accepting a bribe of ₹40,000 from a driver. The arrested are Siddalinga Reddy, Special Land Acquisition Officer for NHAI, and Village Assistant Rajesh.

According to the police, Keshavamurthy of Othighatta village had attached his car to the SLAO office on rent. The officer allegedly demanded a bribe of ₹40,000 to clear his pending bill. As he was not willing to pay the bribe, he informed the Lokayukta Police and registered a case.

The Lokayukta Police arrested Rajesh, a village assistant attached to Holalur Nada Kacheri, while he was accepting a bribe from Keshavamurthy near Nehru Stadium in the city on Saturday evening, as per the instructions of Siddalinga Reddy. Later, the officers also took Siddalinga Reddy into custody. Reddy earlier worked as an Additional Deputy Commissioner in Shivamogga.

The trap was conducted by a team of officials led by B.P. Chandrashekhar, Lokayukta DySP. The team was guided by M.S. Kaulapure, Lokayukta SP. Lokayukta Inspectors K.P. Rudresh, Gururaj Mylar and others were part of the team, said a press release.