Daijwiorld Media Network - Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Sep 19: The junior engineer and chief officer of Kinnigoli town panchayat, were caught red-handed by Lokayukta police while accepting bribes from a contractor. The junior engineer Nagaraj was nabbed while receiving Rs 30,000, while the chief officer was caught accepting Rs 15,000.

The contractor, a PWD Class-1 contractor, had undertaken the development work of the S Kodi government lake under the jurisdiction of Kinnigoli town panchayat as part of the 15th Finance Scheme for the year 2022-23. When the contractor inquired about the approval of a bill amounting to Rs 9,77,154 for the work, junior engineer Nagaraj demanded a bribe of Rs 37,000 to pass the bill and also asked for an additional Rs 15,000 for the chief officer. Nagaraj had already taken an advance of Rs 7,000 from the contractor.

The Lokayukta police, acting on a complaint, set up a trap and apprehended the officials while accepting the bribe. The operation was carried out under the guidance of M A Nataraj, superintendent of police, Karnataka Lokayukta, Mangaluru, and was led by deputy superintendent of police Dr Gana P Kumar along with inspectors Amanulla A, Suresh Kumar P, Chandrashekhar K N, and Chandrashekhar C L.