Lokayukta police on Saturday evening raided a house in Vyalikawal and found a BBMP Executive Engineer and three contractors in possession of files related to civic works pertaining to Rajarajeshwari Nagar zone.
The house is owned by Munirathna Naidu, Congress MLA from Rajarajeshwari Nagar, who is also a film producer. When contacted Munirathna Naidu, who presented Rajanikanth starrer ‘Lingaa’, said that he had rented his property in Vyalikawal to a private person and is not responsible for any activities on the premises.
A senior Lokayukta police officer said that the raid was carried out after an FIR was registered on Saturday against unnamed BBMP engineers and contractors following a complaint that engineers and contractors met at a private house in Vyalikawal every evening and draw up fake bills for non existent work.
A special team of the Lokayukta police, led by Superintendent of Police, Bengaluru, B.A. Mahesh, reached the property around 5 p.m. They found BBMP Executive Engineer (Rajarajeshwari Nagar Zone) Ideya Vendan R. and three contractors Raghavendra, Neeraj and Jayaram. Sources say police seized hundreds of files related to BBMP works in the zone. The files belong to not just works that the three contractors were involved in, but also many other works in the zone. However, it is yet to be ascertained whether they were drawing fake bills, as alleged by the complainant, said officials.
A senior Lokayukta official said that it is unlikely that the executive engineer and the contractors would be arrested immediately.
Ideya Vendan R. has been indicted by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in the Rs. 1,500 crore bogus bill scam in Malleswaram, Gandhinagar and Rajarajeshwari Nagar zones. He was then an executive engineer with Gandhinagar zone. Later, he was transferred to Rajarajeshwari Nagar zone.
BBMP Commissioner M Lakshminarayan said that Ideya Vendan, being found in the possession of official files at a private place with contractors, is gross misconduct. “I am awaiting the Lokayukta report. I will take stringent action against the engineer this time,” he said.
