Lokayukta traps town planning official, driver accepting ₹3 lakh bribe in Yadgir

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

The Lokayukta office in Bengaluru. The raid was executed following a complaint lodged by Sudhakar, a resident of Manvi town. | Photo Credit: File Photo

A Lokayukta police team on Friday caught the Member Secretary of the Town Planning Office, Manvi, and his driver red-handed while accepting a bribe of ₹3 lakh at the Yadgir Urban Development Authority (YUDA) office in Yadgir.

​According to information provided by the Lokayukta Office in Raichur, the arrested officials have been identified as Sharanappa, Member Secretary (Town Planning), who holds additional charge of the Town Planning Office in Manvi, and Santosh Kumar, a driver working at the same office.

​The raid was executed following a complaint lodged by Sudhakar, a resident of Manvi town. The accused had allegedly demanded a sum of ₹3 lakh from the complainant to process and execute official duties related to converting non-agricultural sites into commercial land in Manvi.

​Acting on the complaint, a team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Shivanand Pawadashetty laid a trap at the YUDA premises and caught both persons red-handed while accepting the money.

​A case has been registered under Section 7(a)[A] of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (Amendment Act 2018).

Police Inspector Ravi Purushottam and other Lokayukta staff were part of the raiding team, which was guided by Siddaraju, Superintendent of Police. Further investigation is under way.

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.