Ex-BBMP commissioner raided

The Karnatka Lokayukta police today raided 14 premises of two IAS officers, including former city corporation commissioner Siddaiah who unearthed an alleged multi-crore scam in the civic body, and another official and found ‘unaccounted’ wealth to the tune of Rs 5.88 crore.

Siddaiah, shunted out of the civic body post days after he handed over the probe into the Rs 1,539 crore scam to police last month, was found to be having Rs 1.90 crore unaccounted assets, Lokayukta ADGP Satyanarayana Rao told reporters. Rao refuted suggestions whether the raid on Siddaiah was “politically motivated”.

The BJP government had ordered an investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) into the scam related to infrastructure works in three divisions of the Bruhut Bangalore Mahanagara Palike.

Managing Director of Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Mohammed A Sadiq (IAS) and Deputy General Manager, Upper Krishna Project in Bagalkot M V Veerabhadraiah, a Karnataka Administrative Service officer, were the other two who came under the Lokayukta scanner.

Rao said raids were conducted on six premises belonging to Siddaiah, five owned by Sadiq and three by Veerabhdraiah.

Sadiq owned Rs 1.64 crore worth property and Veerabhadraiah had Rs 2.33 crore assets, he said adding three more lockers and as many premises belonging to Veerabhadraiah were yet to be scanned.

When asked whether the lokayukta police have taken into account the liability of the officials who came under the raid and other income they had apart from salary while computing the asset value, Rao said “it will be done during further investigation”.