Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (SP)
Mangalore, Sep 18: The High Court has ordered that the three engineers of the public works department, who had been arrested by the Lokayukta policemen on the allegation from demanding and collecting bribe from a contractor in the form of blank cheques, be released on bail.
The three, executive engineer Narasimharaju, assistant executive engineer Lokesh Kumar and assistant engineer Santosh Kumar, had been arrested by the Lokayukta personnel on September 1. The local court, which initially granted them bail till September 16, had refused to extend bail and remanded them to judicial custody on expiry of the bail term, till September 30.
Advocate P P Hegde argued in the court, that as many as 30 sub-contractors had complained to the public works department that the contractor in question, Harekala Hamid, had not paid them for the materials supplied by them. He also stated that blank cheques were obtained to serve as security for these payments. The lawyer also brought to the attention of the court that the contractor was facing charges of irregularities in several works executed by him for the department.