Lokayukta Officers Apprehend Ballari BUDA Commissioner and Associates for Corruption

Lokayukta sleuths arrested Ballari Urban Development Authority Commissioner V Ramesh and other officials for accepting bribes. Land developer Ereshi lodged a complaint after the officials demanded a hefty bribe for provisional land development approval. Lokayukta laid a trap and arrested Ramesh for accepting Rs 5 lakh, along with other officials who accepted bribes ranging from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 10,000. A case worker and a junior engineer were also arrested for demanding bribes through UPI. Investigation is underway.

In a major crackdown against corruption in the higher echelons of Ballari Urban Development Authority (BUDA), Lokayukta sleuths arrested top officials including Commissioner V Ramesh for accepting a bribe from a land developer, Lokayukta officials said.

They said that a person named Ereshi had applied to BUDA seeking provisional approval for land development.

The officials demanded a hefty bribe, which enraged the developer, who lodged a complaint with the Lokayukta, the officials said.

Accordingly, a trap was laid by the Lokayukta Superintendent of Police C Siddaraju in Ballari, they said.

Ramesh was caught accepting a bribe of Rs five lakh from Ereshi, while BUDA Town Planning Member Kallinath was caught with Rs six lakh, Assistant Town Planner Yashaswini with Rs three lakh and Manager Narayana with Rs 10,000, Lokayukta officials said.

They added that case worker Shankar, who is a First Division Assistant, was arrested for demanding bribe of Rs 60,000. He had accepted Rs 20,000 through UPI.

Along with them, a BUDA junior engineer, Khaji Khaja Hussain, was arrested for demanding and accepting bribe of Rs 20,000 through UPI.

''All the accused are secured and bribe amount recovered. Investigation is in progress,'' the Lokayukta said in a statement.

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