Lokayukta books contractor, several officers, including retired engineer, for financial misappropriation

Lokayukta officers have booked cases against some officers of the Karnataka Slum Development Board and a private contractor charging them with financial misconduct and misappropriation.

Investigators carried out raids on the offices and homes of some officers and a contractor in Belagavi, Hubballi, Bagalkot, Vijayapura and Bengaluru on Tuesday and recovered some documents.

Officers say that the irregularities are to the tune of ₹23 crore.

The action follows a complaint that officials colluded with the contractor to clear fake bills in the Karnataka Slum Development Board under the Sarvarige Sooru (Housing for All) Scheme of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) 2022 in Ramdurg town of Belagavi district.

The accused include retired assistant executive engineer Shambulingappa B.S., contractor Prasad N.P. of National Projects Construction Corporation, Girimallappa Jogur, Kiran Hosakoti and Rindanagouda Shekargouda Patil in Vijayapura. Other officials related to the scheme have also been named.

Teams carried out inspections at the KSDB office in Hindalga in Belagavi, the residence of retired assistant executive engineer Shambulingappa B.S. in Hubballi, National Projects Construction Corporation (NPCC) office in Bengaluru and the houses of other accused persons in Vijayapura and Bagalkot districts.

Further investigation is on.

According to preliminary investigation, officials and the contractor fudged documents to build a file with fake work bills for houses though, the houses were not built.

They were meant for beneficiaries in notified slum areas under the Sarvarige Sooru Scheme. These bills were cleared and payments were released.

The contractor bypassed rules to create false records of supply material and of several stages of construction. A part payment was made to beneficiaries but, a large amount was misappropriated.

Investigators say that there have been several procedural lapses, including the failure to conduct proper site inspections, not utilising GPS-based photographic evidence of completion of work and independent verification. However, the works were shown as completed and billing done.

An official release said that 13 partial bills were submitted between March 29, 2019 and June 12, 2023. Based on these bills, ₹29.4 crore was released between April 2019 and November 2024.

Material worth ₹6.1 crore were supplied to nearly 600 beneficiaries, while the remaining ₹23.3 crore is suspected to have been misappropriated, said the release.