Lokayukta nabs Buda surveyor, assistant on graft charges, seizes Rs 3.5 lakh

Ballari: A surveyor of the Ballari Urban Development Authority (Buda) and his assistant were caught red-handed by Lokayukta police on Friday while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 3.5 lakh for clearing files related to layout approvals.

The accused were identified as surveyor Shanthamurthy and his assistant Mohammed Sajid. They were trapped following a complaint lodged by Eereshi, 43.According to Lokayukta police, Eereshi had obtained GPA from landowners Praveen Kumar, Kumaraswamy, Raghunath and Brinda to facilitate approvals for single-site and multi-site layout files pertaining to their lands from concerned authorities. The complaint alleged that Shanthamurthy demanded a bribe of Rs 3.5 lakh for processing and securing approval of the layout files.

Based on the complaint, a case was registered at Ballari Lokayukta police station under Section 7(a) of prevention of corruption act, 1988.At around 12.30pm on Friday, Lokayukta officials conducted a raid at Buda office when Shanthamurthy was allegedly receiving the bribe amount through his assistant Mohammed Sajid, from the complainant. The officials apprehended both the accused and seized the cash. The operation was carried out under the guidance of Lokayukta SP N Vasudevarama. DSP Siddappa S Bilagi and Sachin S Chalavadi, PI Suresh M Bhavimani and other officers and staff participated in the trap operation.