The Karnataka government on Monday, July 4, issued an order suspending IAS officer J Manjunath, who was the former Deputy Commissioner, Bengaluru Urban district and senior IPS officer Amrit Paul, who was arrested in the PSI scam case. While Manjunath has been suspended pending further investigation by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in connection with a bribery case, Amrit Paul has been suspended pending further investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
Former DC J Manjunath has been accused of conspiring with his personal assistant Mahesh and contract worker Chetan Kumar in accepting a bribe of Rs 5 lakh and after investigation, circumstantial evidence was found against Manjunath. The High Court had also pulled up the ACB for laxity in probing Manjunath in the crime, after which Manjunath was named in the FIR. After the HC’s remarks, he was shunted out as the Bengaluru Urban DC, and now he has been suspended.
Meanwhile, Amrit Paul has been suspended a day after he was arrested in connection with the police sub-inspector recruitment scam. Amrit Paul was the head of the recruitment cell when the scam came to light and then he was transferred to the post of the ADGP, Internal Security Division. During the police sub-inspector recruitments, Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets of the fraudulent candidates were allegedly tampered with in the recruitment division itself.
The government stated in the suspension order that on inquiry by the Director General of Police and CID, it was found that Paul was allegedly involved in the irregularities in PSI recruitments and that a court has remanded him to police custody till July 13.
In the suspension order of the two officers, the Karnataka government said that the two officers will not leave the headquarters under any circumstances without the written permission of the state government during their suspension period.
On Monday, a Karnataka High Court judge made a sensational allegation in open court that he was threatened with a transfer for pulling up the Karnataka ACB. Justice Hethur Puttaswamygowda Sandesh of the Karnataka HC alleged that a sitting judge of the High Court warned him that he could be transferred as the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) of the ACB had expressed displeasure with the judge’s remarks against the ACB. The court was hearing a bail application filed by accused Mahesh who was caught red-handed accepting a bribe at the office of J Manjunath.