The Lokayukta Police, which conducted searches on six government officials in different parts of the State on Friday, came away with a rich haul of assets that are ostensibly disproportionate to the officials’ known sources of income. Lokayukta officials said that the properties have been valued at government rates and their actual market value is at least five to eight times more.
Those who were searched included S.K. Venkatesh, a first division assistant at the Directorate of Municipal Administration in Bangalore, K. Govindaiah, a BBMP Executive Engineer, N.R. Ramachandra, a medical officer in Chikmagalur, N.C. Ajjaiah, a Grade II Secretary with the Revenue Department in Davangere, N.K. Rangaswamy, CID Police Inspector, and M.B. Nasir Ahmed, Motor Vehicles Inspector.
The government officials whose treasures towered over the others were Mr. Govindaiah and Dr. Ramachandra.
Mr. Govindaiah owns a two-storeyed house on a 2,400 sq ft plot at Nagarbhavi, a duplex house on an 800 sq ft plot at Nagarbhavi, a four-storeyed building on a 1,350 sq ft plot at Laggere, a three-storeyed building consisting of six houses in a BDA Layout in addition to six plots in prime areas of the city.
Only the smallest of the three buildings is registered in Mr. Govindaiah’s name; the rest have been registered in the name of his wife N. Asha. Of the plots he owns, only two are registered in his name, three are in the name of his wife and one in the name of his mother-in-law.
The Lokayukta police suspected that the plot in Mr. Govindaiah’s mother-in-law’s name belongs to him as his son has been named as the heir in her will. A kilogram each of gold and silver, bank accounts worth over Rs. 12 lakh as well as vehicles were recovered from him.
Dr. Ramachandra, whose monthly salary is Rs. 53,650, owns six farms, in all, measuring seven acres, a coffee estate measuring 15 acres, nine residential plots and one residential building.
Only the coffee estate, two pieces of farmland and three of his plots are in his name. The rest are in the name of his relatives. He owns two cars.
