Kinnigoli: Lokayukta police catch panchayat officials in bribery case

A Class-1 PWD contractor has filed a complaint alleging bribery related to a construction project under the 5th Finance Plan for 2022-23 in Kinnigoli. The project involved the development of the S Kodi government pond within the Kinnigoli Town Panchayat jurisdiction, with a bill amounting to Rs 9,77,154.

According to the complaint, when the contractor inquired about the approval of the bill from Junior Engineer (JE) Nagaraju of Kinnigoli Town Panchayat, he was asked to pay a bribe of Rs 37,000 for the JE and ₹15,000 for the Chief Officer of the Panchayat to get the bill passed. JE Nagaraju had already taken an advance of Rs 7,000 from the complainant earlier.

On the day of the operation, JE Nagaraju was caught red-handed by Lokayukta police while accepting Rs 30,000 in bribe money, and the Chief Officer of Kinnigoli Town Panchayat was arrested while receiving Rs 15,000.

The trap operation was conducted under the supervision of MA Nataraj, Superintendent of Police, Karnataka Lokayukta, Mangaluru, with Deputy Superintendent of Police, Dr. Gan P. Kumar, and Police Inspectors Amanullah A., Suresh Kumar P., Chandrashekar K.N., and Chandrashekar C.L., along with their team from the Mangaluru Lokayukta Police Station.