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Indian Express
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
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.
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Indian Express
IPS officer linked to Karnataka Lokayukta extortion case seeks anticipatory bail as new corruption probe expands
A serving IPS officer in Karnataka who has been linked to an extortion scam in the state's anti-corruption police unit attached to the Karnataka Lokayukta has filed for bail in a sessions court in Bengaluru in the wake of police searches at his residence and summons for questioning. Joshi Srinath Mahadev, 53, a 2012 state cadre promotee IPS officer who was serving as the superintendent of police (SP) for the Karnataka Lokayukta police's Bengaluru City-1 division until last week, has sought anticipatory bail apprehending arrest in an extortion case involving government officials. The Lokayukta police had taken up the case on June 2. Mahadev, who was moved out of the Karnataka Lokayukta police unit on June 12, filed the anticipatory bail plea in the wake of the arrest of a 'dismissed' police constable, Ningappa Savant alias Ningappa G, 45. Ningappa was arrested on June 2 on charges of extorting money from state government officials in various departments, including excise, transport, Bengaluru city, etc., by claiming that the Lokayukta police had identified them as targets for anti-corruption raids. The sessions court adjourned the bail plea on Tuesday after the Lokayukta police sought two days to file their objections. A former cop, extortion charges, and cryptocurrency investments Ningappa, the main accused in the case, was allegedly a regular visitor to Mahadev's chambers in the Bengaluru Lokayukta 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. He is also alleged to have procured SIM cards and phones to create phone numbers and WhatsApp identities in the name of Lokayukta police officers. He allegedly showed officials these to prove his association with Lokayukta officials. A former constable from Holalkere in the Chitradurga region, Ningappa was dismissed from police service a few years ago after not reporting for duty. He is alleged to have parked the money he earned from the extortion activities in cryptocurrency, which the Lokayukta police have now seized and transferred to a police crypto wallet, police sources said. 'He has admitted that he has invested the money he extorted in cryptocurrency in his own name and that of his relatives. His mobile was checked, and it was found that he had invested the money in about 13 crypto wallets. To trace the source of the money, the said wallets have been frozen and the investigation is continuing,' the office of the Karnataka Lokayukta said in its first official statement on the extortion scam on Tuesday. 'The investigation is continuing into how much money was paid to the accused Ningappa and by which officials. Information about the involvement of other officers with the accused is being gathered by examining WhatsApp messages, call details, and WhatsApp call details,' the statement added. The Lokayukta has claimed the existence of as many as 35 cases of extortion by persons claiming to be Lokayukta officers that have been filed around Karnataka in recent years. IPS officer Joshi Mahadev's alleged role in the racket IPS officer Mahadev was allegedly in the know of Ningappa's activities. Ningappa told investigators that a portion of the cryptocurrency in his possession was allegedly Mahadev's share from the extortion racket. 'Mahadev was summoned once but has sought a later date for appearance by citing a function at his residence,' a police source said. Mahadev moved for anticipatory bail even as the Karnataka High Court ordered a stay on the FIR in the extortion case on the basis of a quashing petition filed by Ningappa, which came up before it on Tuesday. Ningappa's wife, Chandrakala G K, has also filed a petition in the high court claiming that her husband was detained on May 31 but was officially shown as arrested only on June 2 after the registration of an FIR. What the FIR and complaint in the extortion case say According to the FIR, Ningappa posed as a Lokayukta official and called government officials over the phone to threaten them of anti-corruption raids by using the photographs and names of the Lokayukta (retired high court judge B S Patil), deputy Lokayukta and Lokayukta police officers that were saved in his WhatsApp contacts. He allegedly demanded money to prevent searches. The case emerged after the Lokayukta police received multiple complaints of people using the identities of Lokayukta officials for extortion in recent months, according to the police complaint filed on June 2. It has emerged that 'fearing such calls, several government officials have delivered thousands and lakhs of rupees in cash/Phone Pay to callers posing as fake Lokayukta officials', the police complaint has added. 'After some officials inquired about this on their own or through their acquaintances at the Lokayukta office, information was obtained that the real officials were not the ones who threatened them, and some officials have filed complaints with the relevant police stations about the loss of money,' the complaint further adds. The Lokayukta police have found that Ningappa allegedly obtained information on government officials under the anti-corruption agency's scanner from Lokayukta contacts and then targeted the officials. In one instance of extortion, where a complaint was filed recently in the Tumkur region of Karnataka by an RTO officer, Ningappa allegedly made a WhatsApp call using the photo of Lokayukta Police SP, Bangalore City (2), K Vamshi Krishna as the display picture for the phone number, and allegedly demanded money. In some other cases, Ningappa allegedly sent screenshots of his contact list with the saved names of Lokayukta officials to prove his credentials during the extortion activities. Chequered past for anti-corruption efforts in Karnataka The Karnataka Lokayukta police was reinstated as the primary anti-corruption agency in the state by an August 11, 2022, order of the Karnataka High Court that abolished the state-controlled Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). The ACB was abolished during the tenure of the BJP in Karnataka after the high court ruled that it had been ineffective in controlling corruption. Previously, the Congress government in Karnataka had created the ACB in 2016 following allegations of corruption in the Karnataka Lokayukta establishment. The government had reduced the powers of the Lokayukta in 2016 by creating the ACB in the wake of the then Lokayukta Justice Bhaskar Rao, a former chief justice of Karnataka, and his son Ashwin Rao, being linked to an extortion racket. A Karnataka Police Special Investigation Team that investigated the Lokayukta scam a decade ago had uncovered a modus operandi where allegedly corrupt state officials were targeted for extortion by middlemen—journalists, public relations officials, and others—linked to Lokayukta officials.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Lokayukta extortion: Arrested Bengaluru cop had 13 crypto wallets in his name
Bengaluru: The probe into the alleged extortion calls made in the name of Karnataka Lokayukta head honchos has taken an interesting turn with the ombudsman claiming that police constable Ningappa G alias Ningappa Savant, who is already under arrest in the case, had reportedly routed the money collected from corrupt govt officials into 13 crypto currency wallets in his name and those of his relatives. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Lokayukta police on Monday produced Ningappa before a special court, which remanded him in 14-day judicial custody. However, there was some relief for Ningappa, with Karnataka high court on Tuesday granting interim stay on the probe against him. Justice S R Krishna Kumar passed the order on Ningappa's petition, seeking quashing of the proceedings initiated against him by Lokayukta police. An IPS officer, who had served in the ombudsman, reportedly guided and shielded Ningappa as he went about blackmailing and extorting govt officers. According to a Lokayukta press release, Ningappa from Hosadurga, in Chitradurga district, confessed to extorting money from many excise officials over the last six months. "We have frozen these [crypto] wallets," said the press note. It further stated: "We are investigating the involvement of other officials in the racket, and checking phone calls, WhatsApp messages, and other communications made with the prime suspect Ningappa." On Monday and Tuesday, Lokayukta police visited the Koramangala house of an IPS officer who was recently transferred out of Lokayukta. "The flat, which is in the police quarters, was locked. So, a notice was put up, directing him to appear before the investigating officials," a senior police officer said. While granting an interim stay on the probe against Ningappa, Justice S R Krishna Kumar also adjourned the hearing to Wednesday on a petition filed by Chandrakala, wife of Ningappa, who claimed that their house was searched at 9 pm on May 31 by Lokayukta police, and her husband was arrested at 9.30 pm in Hosadurga. Thereafter, his whereabouts were not known for two days, until he was produced in court on June 2. According to her, contrary to the truth, his remand memo said he was arrested at 6.10 pm on June 2 near Maruthi Ground at Rajajinagar in Bengaluru, and that he was brought to the Lokayukta office at 6.30 pm.
Time of India
06-06-2025
- Time of India
Lokayukta traps Mescom engineer while accepting bribe
Udupi: Sleuths of Karnataka Lokayukta (Mangaluru division) caught an assistant executive engineer (AEE) of Mescom office in Brahmavar, Udupi, while allegedly accepting a bribe on Friday. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Ashok Poojary, Mescom AEE, allegedly harassed a person for about two months for providing an electricity connection to a house. To provide the connection, Poojary demanded a bribe of Rs 20,000 from the complainant. Unwilling to pay a bribe for a govt service, the complainant reported the matter to the Udupi Lokayukta police station, said Kumarachandra, SP (in-charge), Lokayukta. On Friday morning, Poojary was caught by Lokayukta police at the Brahmavar Mescom office while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 20,000 from the complainant. The officer was taken into custody, and the investigation is going on, he said. Manjunath, in-charge deputy superintendent of police, Lokayukta, Udupi, Rajendra Naik, M, police inspector, Lokayukta, Udupi, and Bharati, G, police inspector, Lokayukta, Mangaluru, along with staff from the Udupi and Mangalore Lokayukta stations were part of the operation.
Time of India
30-05-2025
- Time of India
Govt official booked in bribery case
Mangaluru: The Karnataka Lokayukta Mangaluru division filed a case against an official from the department of legal metrology for attempting to offer a bribe to the station officer at the Mangaluru Lokayukta. Kumarachandra, superintendent of police (in-charge), Lokayukta, stated that when the complainant, a police inspector at the Karnataka Lokayukta in Mangaluru was on duty at the Mangaluru Lokayukta police station around 11.15 am on Friday, Praveen Naik, owner of Prashanth Oil Industries, and Gajendra V Edake, assistant controller at the department of legal metrology, came to the station. They informed the station staff that they needed to provide information to the police inspector. Gajendra then spoke to the inspector, requesting that no cases be filed or raids conducted against him or his department by the Lokayukta. He offered a bribe of Rs 25,000 every three months to the Lokayukta station. Following this, a case was registered against Gajendra at the Mangaluru Lokayukta police station. The SP said that the officer, who attempted to offer a bribe to the station officer, was taken into custody for investigation. Lokayukta deputy superintendents of police Gana P Kumar, Suresh Kumar P, inspectors Bharati G and Chandrashekhar KN were part of the operation.
