Thirteen lakh rupees in cash hidden in a drainage pipe at an assistant engineer’s house in Kalaburagi was seized by officials of the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Karnataka, in a big crackdown on government officials holding disproportionate assets. Visuals showed wads of cash falling out from a drainage pipe at the residence of Shantana Gowda, an Assistant Engineer in the Public Works Department in Kalaburagi. An ACB official said that while Rs 13 lakh was recovered from the pipe alone, a total of Rs 54 lakh in cash was found at the engineer’s residence during the raid. Visuals showed the officials collecting all the cash in a yellow bucket that filled up to the brim with Rs 500 notes pulled out of the pipe.
This was seized from a single government official’s house, and the ACB is said to have seized a massive quantity of gold and silver ornaments, huge amounts of cash, and a horde of documents during the searches carried out across 60 locations in Karnataka. Over 400 officials from the anti-corruption body were deployed in districts across the state.
ACB officials seize Rs 13 lakh cash from a drain pipe from the home of a junior engineer in the PWD Department in Kalaburagi #Karnataka. pic.twitter.com/uA7d4V27Fp
— Nitin B (@NitinBGoode) November 24, 2021
Nearly seven kilograms of gold and cash to the tune of Rs 15 lakh was recovered from the residence of the Joint Director in Gadag’s Agriculture Department. From the residence of Rudreshappa, a Joint director in the Agriculture Department, seven kilograms of gold and Rs 15 lakh in cash were seized by the ACB.
Wednesday’s searches were part of a major crackdown on government officials accused of amassing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income. The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Wednesday carried out searches at 60 locations across Karnataka. As many as 400 ACB officials raided the premises of 15 officers of various departments, in Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Mandya, and Ballari. "Today the ACB conducted a search in 60 places with respect to disproportionate assets cases registered against 15 officers by a team of eight superintendents of police, 100 officers and 300 staff," the ACB said in a statement.
According to the bureau, raids were conducted at locations belonging to Mangalore Smart City Executive Engineer K S Lingegowda, Mandya Executive Engineer Srinivas K, Doddaballapura Revenue Inspector Lakshminarashimaiah, former Project Manager of Bengaluru Nirmiti Kendra Vasudev, Bengaluru Nandini Dairy general manager B Krishna Reddy, Gadag Agriculture Department, Joint Director TS Rudreshappa and Bailahongala cooperative development officer AK Masti among others.
The ACB had recently raided the Bangalore Development Authority officials in connection with the alleged irregularities in the allotment of plots in a few layouts developed by BDA.