The man who is supposed to lead Karnataka’s crusade against corruption has landed in the centre of a major controversy. On Monday, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) arrested Ashwin Rao, son of Karnataka lokayukta Justice V Bhaskar Rao, for allegedly seeking Rs1 crore bribe from a State Executive Engineer.
According to sources, a team led by Superintendent of Police labu Ram nabbed Ashwin Rao at Aurangabad in Marathwada region of Maharashtra. He is expected to be produced before a court within 24 hours.The SIT, headed by Additional Director-General of Police (ADGP) Kamal Pant, was set up by the Karnataka Government on June 30 on the lokayukta’s request to probe graft charges leveled against a few unidentified officials of the watchdog and bribe charges against his son Ashwin Rao.
Ashwin Rao’s arrest came hours after lokayukta’s Joint Commissioner Syed Riyaz was nabbed in Bengaluru on Sunday night. Riyaz has been sent to custody till August 5.lokayukta’s Superintendent of Police Sonia Narang named Ashwin and Riyaz in the First Information Report (FIR) she registered on July 1 along with three accomplices whom the SIT arrested last week.
The accomplices are Ashok Kumar, a realtor, Shanakare Gowda, an RTI activist, and Srinivasa Gowda, a TV journalist with a Kannada news channel here.In a complaint to Narang on May 11, State Public Works Department Executive Engineer MN Krishnamurthy alleged that Ashwin Rao had sought Rs1-crore bribe from him through Riyaz and Kumar by threatening to book a graft case against him and raid his premises if he did not pay up.
A division Bench of the Karnataka High Court on July 1 stayed the FIR on a writ petition by Ashwin Rao, but allowed the SIT to probe into the graft charges.The SIT is also on the lookout for Riyaz’s brother-in-law Sadiq in the State’s Malnad region for allegedly being part of the extortionist ring in the anti-graft institution.
According to sources, lokayukta Bhaskara Rao might resign after the arrest of his son. They claim that he was talking to former Advocate-General of Karnataka Ashok Haranahalli for an anticipatory bail.