The Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up to probe allegations of corruption in the Lokayukta office grilled the complainant, M.N. Krishnamurthy, for several hours on Thursday.
After it became evident that there is no CCTV footage recorded at the Lokayukta office, the interrogation of Mr. Krishnamurthy has turned crucial, SIT officials said.
Mr. Krishnamurthy, an executive engineer with PWD, had alleged that he met one Krishna Rao at the Lokayukta office when he was asked for a bribe. He later identified Krishna Rao to be none other than Ashwin Y, the son of Lokayukta Y. Bhaskar Rao.
While Mr. Krishnamurthy initially reported that the alleged meeting took place on May 5, he claimed he had mixed up the dates and the meeting actually took place on May 4. This was a day after Mr. Ashwin submitted documents to show that he was in Hyderabad on May 5 and 6.
A senior official, who grilled Mr. Krishnamurthy, said that in the absence of CCTV footage, there were few ways left to ascertain the veracity of the alleged meeting. “He claims that he genuinely mixed up the dates and offers nothing more. We are now looking at other ways to establish the truth of his claims,” he said.
The mobile tower locations of Mr. Krishnamurthy and others involved in the case are also not a likely clincher, as the tower locations of most of them show to be in the vicinity of Vidhana Soudha, where most offices are located.
Another senior official said that the SIT, presently, was in the process of verifying the claims made by the complainant and the status report of the Lokayukta police probe.
SIT also studying probe report by Lokayukta police
