Lokayukta arrests school convener

Mangaluru: Lokayukta sleuths caught red handed the convener of Sri Niranjana Swamy Aided Higher Primary School, Sunkadakatte near Bajpe, while accepting a bribe of Rs 5 lakh on Friday. The arrested accused is Jyothi N Poojary. According to Lokayukta SP CA Simon, complainant Shobharani, who was serving as head teacher at the school, is set to retire on July 31. Hence, she had requested the convener to send pension-related letters to the BEO office and asked for receipt of the letter. However, Jyothi failed to send the letters to the BEO office and demanded a bribe of Rs 20 lakh for sending the same. Shobharani met Jyothi on July 5 and requested again to sign the pension documents. However, the latter demanded Rs 5 lakh to process the file. Based on her complaint, Lokayukta sleuths laid a trap and arrested Jyothi while she was accepting Rs 5 lakh. Simon said the accused will be produced before the magistrate.