His Salary Was Rs 15,000. But He Owned 24 Houses, Rs 30 Crore Assets

The Lokayukta officials on Friday raided the residence of a former clerk at the Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited (KRIDL) and found unaccounted assets worth over Rs 30 crore.

The officials found out that Kalakappa Nidagundi, who worked in Koppal and had a monthly salary of Rs 15,000, owned twenty-four houses, four plots, and 40 acres of farmland.

Four vehicles, 350 grams of gold, and 1.5 kg of silver were also recovered during the raids. 

The properties were in his name, his wife's, and her brother's.

Nidagundi and an ex-KRIDL engineer, ZM Chincholkar, allegedly siphoned off over Rs 72 crore by faking documents for 96 incomplete projects.

Lokayukta Raids

The Lokayukta sleuths have been raiding government officials accused of amassing wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income.

On Tuesday, they conducted searches at places linked to five government officials in Hassan, Chikkabalapura, Chitradurga and Bengaluru.

The officers who came under Lokayukta's radar were Jayanna R, Executive Engineer, NHAI Division, Hassan; Anjaneya Murthy M Junior Englneer, Rural Drinking Water and Sanitisation Department Chikkabalapura; Dr Venkatesh, Taluk Health officer, Hiriyur, Chitradurga; N Venkatesh, Revenue Officer, BBMP Dasarahalli sub-division, Shettihalli in Bengaluru; and K Om Prakash Senior, Assistant Horticultue Director, BDA Head Office in Bengaluru.

On July 23, they carried out searches in premises linked to eight officials, including an IAS officer, in a disproportionate assets case and recovered wealth worth Rs 37.42 crore.

The raids were conducted at 41 locations linked to the officers posted in Bengaluru Urban, Mysuru, Tumakuru, Kalaburagi, Koppal and Kodagu districts.

Among those raided was IAS officer Vasanthi Amar B V, who serves as Special Deputy Commissioner at the Railway Infrastructure Development Company, Karnataka (K-RIDE). She was also responsible for the land acquisition for the Bengaluru Sub-urban Railway Project (BSRP).

During searches at five places linked to Vasanthi, officials recovered assets worth Rs 9.03 crore, including three sites, four houses, three acres of agricultural land to the tune of Rs 7.4 crore, ornaments worth Rs 12 lakh, and vehicles worth Rs 90 lakh.