Karnataka Lokayukta extortion case: WhatsApp messages from ex-cop's phone revealed links to IPS officer
The investigation into an alleged extortion racket operating in the Karnataka Lokayukta established a link between IPS officer Srinath Joshi and Ningappa Savant, a former police constable accused of threatening government officials with raids, from WhatsApp messages retrieved from the latter's phone.
The alleged association between Savant and Joshi, who was a Superintendent of Police (SP) in the Karnataka Lokayukta until last week, emerged after WhatsApp messages from the former constable's phone were retrieved following his arrest on June 2, police sources said.
'Information about the involvement of other officers with the accused is being gathered by examining WhatsApp messages, call details, and WhatsApp call details,' the office of the Karnataka Lokayukta had said in an official statement on June 17.
A single-judge bench of the Karnataka High Court granted bail to Savant on Thursday following a plea by his wife, G K Chandrakala. She alleged that the Lokayukta police did not follow arrest procedures mandated by the Supreme Court while arresting Savant.
The high court ruled that Savant's arrest was unconstitutional and noted that 'the fact that the grounds of arrest were not intimated, furnished or communicated to the petitioner or her husband' was grounds for granting bail.
'I deem it just and appropriate to direct the respondent-Lokayuktha and the concerned jail authorities to release the petitioner's husband on interim bail for a period of four weeks…,' Justice S R Krishna Kumar of the Karnataka High Court ruled on Thursday.
Earlier, the high court bench had stayed the Lokayukta police FIR against Savant on June 17. The bench on June 18 also stayed a summons issued by the Lokayukta police for questioning Joshi on his alleged association with Savant.
The alleged extortion racket linked to the Karnataka Lokayukta emerged after a May 23 extortion bid on a regional transport officer (RTO) in Tumakuru. The official filed a complaint with the police, saying he had received a call from a caller claiming to be Vamsi Krishna, the SP of the Bengaluru City Lokayukta unit, who demanded money to prevent a raid on the RTO.
The subsequent probe led to the arrest of Savant, who was identified as the person who allegedly called the RTO in the guise of a Lokayukta police officer. The Lokayukta police also seized Savant's mobile phone. The police retrieved data from the phone through the technical services of the state CID and found that the dismissed police constable was closely associated with SP Joshi through multiple messages and calls.
Savant's WhatsApp messages allegedly revealed that he reported the collection of over ₹ 56 lakh from excise officials in the state to the officer. The Lokayukta police are now investigating the excise officials who are alleged to have made payments through Savant to evade action by the Lokayukta police.
Savant is alleged to have extorted over ₹ 4.15 crore from dozens of government officials by claiming to be closely associated with police officers in the Karnataka Lokayukta police units.
The Lokayukta police also established the alleged association between Savant and Joshi from information about the former police constable's visits to the Lokayukta office, where he frequently met Joshi.
Sources said that the Lokayukta police had collected sufficient material through technical analysis to pursue the case further and would seek removal of the high court stay on investigations following an advancement of a hearing initially set for July 15.
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