Karnataka Lokayukta Searches Premises of Eight Officials in Assets Probe

The Karnataka Lokayukta carried out simultaneous searches across the State on Tuesday against eight government officials over allegations that they hold assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.

Several Lokayukta teams fanned out to residential and other premises linked to the officials, seizing documents as well as records of movable and immovable properties. The material gathered is being examined as part of the preliminary stage of the investigation.

The officials covered by the operation span several departments and districts. They include Darshan Gowda, a Food and Drug Administration official posted at the Chikkaballapur Deputy Commissioner's Office; H.M. Ranganath, a retired assistant executive engineer of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike; and Sridevi, District Registrar in Bengaluru.

Also searched were H.R. Ramesh, Municipal Commissioner in Madikeri; Kiran Kumar Baindur, assistant executive engineer with HESCOM in Hubballi-Dharwad; and Rajeshwari, assistant executive engineer with GESCOM in Kalaburagi.

The remaining two officials are Manik Rao, Assistant Director in the Agriculture Department in Bidar, and Shivaraju, Hostel Superintendent in the Backward Classes Welfare Department in Mandya.

Teams are still assessing the seized documents and property records. The total value of the assets traced is expected to become clear only after the searches are completed and a preliminary assessment is done.