Silvester D’Souza

Daijiworld Media Network – Byndoor (MS)

Byndoor, Jun 21: Lokayukta police have arrested Bangarappa, the sub-divisional forest officer of the Byndoor zone, for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 4,000 to issue a permit for cutting a jackfruit tree. Another accused in the case, Vinayaka, a forest viewer, is currently absconding.

According to details, the complainant, Mohammed Anwar Hassan, a resident of Shiroor, had applied for a permit to cut a jackfruit tree on his Patta land. Bangarappa reportedly demanded a bribe of Rs 4,000 to process the permit. The complainant informed the Lokayukta police, who then set a trap and caught Bangarappa red-handed while accepting the bribe.

The operation was conducted under the guidance of Nataraja M A, Lokayukta police superintendent of the Mangaluru division, and was led by Prakash K, DySP Udupi Lokayukta, along with Manjunath, police inspector, Karnataka Lokayukta.

The raiding team comprised personnel including Nagesh Udupa, Nagaraj, Rohit, Mallika, Pushpavati, Satish Handadi, Ravindra Ganiga, Ramesh, Abdul Jalaal, Prasanna Devadiga, Satish Acharya, Raghavendra Hosakote, Sooraj, and Sudhir.