Mangaluru: Officials caught red-handed by Lokayukta while taking bribe

Mangaluru: Two officials were arrested on Friday by the Lokayukta while they allegedly accepted a bribe of Rs 4700 from a person at Mini Vidhana Soudha.

The accused are Tehsildar Purandara Hegde and First Division Assistant Shivananda Natekar. They had allegedly demanded a bribe from a person to grant NOC.

Natekar was caught red-handed while taking the bribe by the Lokayukta team. During the investigation, he confessed that the bribe was taken on behalf of  Purandara Hegde. Based on his confession, the tehsildar was also taken into custody, sources said.

The operation was led by Lokayukta SP Lakshmi Ganesh and DySP Cheluvaraj.

The accused have been booked under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and further investigations are on.