Bengaluru: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Karnataka is on an overdrive. After raiding the premises of two government officials on Friday, the ACB got cracking and raided two more officials on Saturday in North Karnataka’s Belgavi and Bagalkot.
“We have raided three premises of Chandregouda B Patil, assistant forest conservator of Khanapur, as we suspect him of having disproportionate assets. We have also raided assistant executive engineer for rural water supply Chidananda Minchinal’s office and three more of his premises in Bagalkot and Vijaypura,” said ACB IGP Chandrashekar.
On Friday, the ACB conducted raids in eight locations in Bengaluru and Tumkur belonging to two government officials. The bureau seized Rs 5.2 crore, along with movable and immovable property in one of the biggest operations conducted in recent times.
One of the officials under the scanner is NG Gowdiah, a 5th engineer officer with the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA). The ACB recovered two houses under his name, eight land sites, 14 apartments, 18.2 kg gold, 10 kg silver, three cars, three two-wheelers and Rs 77 lakh in cash.
TR Swamy, the chief development officer of the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) was the second to be raided. The ACB, which had to put up quite a fight to enter his premises in Bengaluru’s Malleshwaram, found bags of cash being thrown out into the lawns during the investigation.
“From TR Swamy, we recovered eight houses in the names of his family members and relatives, 11 sites, 14 acres of agricultural land, 1.6 kg gold, 7.5 kg silver, three cars and Rs 4.5 crore cash. We are further investigating the source of all these assets,” Chandrashekar said.
Meanwhile, the Bengaluru city ACB unit hopes to become more people friendly and has started a helpline where citizens can lodge their complaints against erring officials. The number has already received about 500 calls and over 50 emails with details of various assets of different officials. The ACB hopes that this information will help them nab the corrupt.