SIT files chrgesheet in fourth Lokayukta insider graft case

BENGALURU: The special investigation team (SIT) which is probing graft and other violations within the anti-corruption watchdog, Lokayukta, has filed a chargesheet against four men, one of them being the Lokayukta's son, Y Ashwin Rao.
The chargesheet relates to a complaint filed by public works department chief engineer D Udayshankar, who was one of 33 accused allegedly involved in Rs 600 crore during 2011-13 in Magadi sub division, Ramanagaram district.
The SIT chargesheet contains 1537 pages and more than 60 witnesses account, has invoked sections 384, 506, 419, 201 and 120-B of IPC and sections 8 and 9 of Prevention of Corruption Act.
The engineer was one of the accused in a Lokayukta police investigation into the PWD scam of multi-crore civil works scam in Magadi sub division. A chargesheet filed against the engineer in the PWD scam came handy for the accused persons to threaten and extort money from Udayshankar. The engineer was one among the 33 accused persons in the PWD scam.
Ashwin, his agent V Bhaskar alias 420 Bhaskar, a self-styled RTI activist and a clerk in state police chief office Narasimha Murthy used the allegations against the engineer to threaten him that his house will be raided and demanded Rs 3 crore to avoid the raid.
Udayshankar was asked to shell out the heavy amount in February, a month before Udayshankar’s daughter was getting married.
Udayshankar was called to the reach the Lokayukta office or at his official residence on Crescent Road. The caller identified himself as Krishna Rao, who is now identified as 420 Bhaskar, pestered the engineer continuously through several calls forcing him to go to Justice Bhaskar Rao’s official residence. At the residence he met Bhaskar and Narasimha Murthy, who posed himself as a senior officer in the Lokayukta institution. It was at this meeting in early February a person identified as Hotte Krishna, a small-time journalist and silk merchant from Bannerghatta road, introduced himself to the engineer.
Both told the engineer to avoid the Lokayukta police raid at a time when his daughter was getting married as the raid may bring ignominy to his family. At this meeting Ashwin Rao who was in another room of the house also met Udayshankar and Ashwin threatened the engineer that his mobile phone will be always on surveillance and warned he will be raided any time.
The engineer’s deposition before the SIT stated that he paid Rs 5 lakh to Murthy, who came in an official Toyota Innova, near KR Circle on February 14.
The SIT chargesheet is against first accused Ashwin Rao, 420 Bhaskar, and Murthy besides Hotte Krishna.