Pramesh S Jain
Karnataka Lokayukta Police on Tuesday conducted simultaneous searches at more than 33 locations linked to eight government officials in connection with disproportionate assets (DA) cases and identified assets valued at around Rs 29.61 crore,according to the agency.
The searches were conducted at the residences,offices and premises of relatives of the officials in Bengaluru, Chikkaballapur,Kalaburagi,
The officials were identified as Shivaraju M,Hostel Superintendent,BCM Department,Maddur; H.M. Ranganath (retired),former Assistant Engineer,GBA, Shivajinagar;Rajeshwari Babalad,AEE,GESCOM, Kalaburagi;H.R.Ramesh,
According to Lokayukta officials,the searches resulted in the identification of immovable properties valued at Rs. 17.98 crore and movable assets worth Rs.11.63 crore.
Sridevi was found to have the highest value of assets at approximately Rs.6.81 crore,including two sites,two houses,agricultural land valued at Rs.2.5 crore and a garment factory valued at Rs.2.3 crore.
Former Assistant Engineer H.M.Ranganath had movable assets valued at around Rs.3.96 crore,including cash, gold and silver ornaments,vehicles,bank fixed deposits and other articles.His total assets identified during the searches were valued at approximately Rs 5.70 crore.
In Mandya,Lokayukta teams identified immovable properties worth Rs.2.16 crore and movable assets worth Rs 1.66 crore linked to Shivaraju M.
The properties included five sites,five houses,a commercial complex,a farmhouse and six acres of agricultural land.
At Kalaburagi,searches linked to GESCOM AEE Rajeshwari Babalad resulted in the identification of assets valued at around Rs 2.20 crore.
In Dharwad, assets worth approximately Rs 2.80 crore were identified in the case involving HESCOM AEE Kiran Baindur.
The searches in Chikkaballapur,Kodagu and Bidar also resulted in the identification of properties, vehicles,gold and silver ornaments,cash and other assets.
The Lokayukta Police are examining the documents and other materials seized during the searches to determine the extent of assets allegedly disproportionate to the officials’ known sources of income.
The Rs.29.61 crore figure represents the total value of assets identified during the searches and should not be construed as the final disproportionate-asset amount, which will be determined after verification of income, expenditure and sources of the assets in each case.
