Amidst din, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) council on Tuesday passed a resolution urging the government to order a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe to find out how BBMP files, pertaining to Rs. 120 crore worth works sanctioned for the Rajarajeshwarinagar zone, found their way into a private residence in Vyalikaval. The Lokayukta raided the house recently and recovered the files.
Council members engaged in a heated discussion on the issue.
BBMP Commissioner M. Lakshminarayana has suspended the three officials — executive engineer Idaya Vendon, assistant engineer Vishwas and first-division assistant Shylaja — who were in the house clearing the files pertaining to the Rs. 120 crore worth of works sanctioned for the Rajarajeshwarinagar zone.
Councillors from Rajarajeshwarinagar G.H. Ramachandra, Lakshmikanth Reddy and Govindaraju (from Congress) made oblique references to Congress leader and Rajarajeshwari Nagar MLA Munirathna, who is also Yeshwantpur councillor, to whom the house allegedly belongs.
Several councillors from the BJP sought an explanation from Mr. Lakshminarayana. They wanted to know who the house that was raided belonged to and who had taken the BBMP files there. When they did not receive a satisfactory response from the Commissioner, councillors from the Rajarajeshwarinagar Assembly constituency staged a snap protest in the well of the House. They also questioned why Mr. Vendon, who was on leave, was “updating” the files in a private property.
Venkatachalapathy, BBMP’s Deputy Commissioner (Revenue), informed the council that the House was registered in the name of Manjula. Unconvinced, the councillors demanded to know why additional details, such as relationship details (wife of/ daughter of) were not recorded. The BJP councillors demanded Mr. Munirathna’s membership in the BBMP council and Assembly be cancelled.
When the commotion did not die down despite repeated appeals, Mayor N. Shantha Kumari adjourned the meeting.
Meanwhile, Mr. Munirathna, who did not get a chance to speak in the council following the din, told presspersons later that he welcomed the CBI probe and would cooperate with the investigation.
