Lokayukta raids unearth Rs 45.14 cr disproportionate assets held by 11 govt officers in Karnataka
Bengaluru, Jul 11: Lokayukta sleuths on Thursday conducted raids at 56 places across the state and found that 11 government officers and engineers had amassed assets worth Rs 45.14 crore that are disproportionate to their known sources of income, the office of the Lokayukta said.
In an early morning operation, about 100 officials carried out simultaneous raids in nine districts against government officers who allegedly accumulated disproportionate assets (DA).
The superintendents of the districts supervised the raids and carried out searches in 56 locations.
ALSO READ: Lokayukta sleuths raid govt officers and engineers in disproportionate assets case in Karnataka
The officers who were raided include Assistant Executive Engineer in Panchayat Raj Engineering Department in Belagavi D Mahadev Bannur, Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited Executive Engineer D H Umesh, Assistant Executive Engineer at BESCOM Vigilance Police Station in Davangere M S Prabhakar, Belagavi Nirmiti Kendra Project Director Shekhar Gouda Kuradgi, Retired PWD Chief Engineer M Ravindra, and PWD Chief Engineer K G Jagadeesh, a statement issued by the Lokayukta said.
The other officers are retired Executive Engineer of the Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation Division Mandya S Shivaraju, Harohalli Tahsildar in Ramanagara Vijayanna, Superintending Engineer in Irrigation Department Mahesh K, Panchayat secretary N M Jagadeesh and Mahadevapura Revenue Officer Division of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Basavaraj Magi.
According to the Lokayukta office, Shekhar Gouda Kuradgi was found to be in possession of the highest amount of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income -- worth Rs 7.88 crore -- among those raided on Thursday.
Officers found having DA of above Rs five crore are Umesh, Ravindra, K G Jagadeesh and Shivaraju, it added.
In all, the 11 officers were found to be in possession of Rs 45.14 crore worth DA, the statement said.
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Maldivian military diver dead while searching for bodies of four Italian divers
Colombo (AP): A Maldivian military diver died Saturday while searching for the bodies of four Italian divers believed to be deep inside an underwater cave.
The group of five Italian divers is believed to have died while exploring a cave at a depth of about 50 metres in Vaavu Atoll on Thursday, according to Italy's Foreign Ministry. The recreational diving limit in the Maldives is 30 metres.
Maldives Presidential Spokesman Mohammed Hussain Shareef said that Mohamed Mahudhee, a member of the Maldivian National Defence Force, died of underwater decompression sickness after being transferred to a hospital in the capital.
“The death goes to show the difficulty of the mission,” he said.
Earlier, Shareef said the searchers had prepared a plan based on their progress exploring the cave on Friday. Mahudhee was part of the group that briefed Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu on the rescue plan when he visited the search site on Friday.
Rough weather has repeatedly hampered rescue efforts.
The Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said everything possible would be done to bring the victims home. His ministry stated it was coordinating with Divers Alert Network, a specialist diving organisation, to support recovery operations and the repatriation of the bodies. The cause of the deaths remains under investigation.
The victims have been identified as Monica Montefalcone, an associate professor of ecology at the University of Genoa; her daughter, Giorgia Sommacal; marine biologist Federico Gualtieri; researcher Muriel Oddenino; and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti, according to the Maldivian government.
Benedetti's body was recovered on Thursday.
Montefalcone and Oddenino were in the Maldives on an official scientific mission to monitor marine environments and study the effects of climate change on tropical biodiversity, the University of Genoa said in a statement Friday. However, the scuba diving activity during which the deadly accident occurred was not part of the planned research and was “undertaken privately,” it said.
The statement also said the two other victims — student Sommacal and recent graduate Gualtieri — were not involved in the scientific mission.
Cave diving is a highly technical and dangerous activity that requires specialised training, equipment and strict safety protocols. Risks increase sharply in environments where divers cannot head straight up and at depth, particularly when conditions are poor.
Experts say it's easy to become disoriented or lost inside caves, particularly as sediment clouds can sharply reduce visibility.
Diving at 50 metres also exceeds the maximum depth recommended for recreational divers by most major established scuba certifying agencies, with depths beyond 40 metres considered technical diving and requiring specialised training and equipment.
Shareef said Benedetti's body was found near the mouth of the cave and authorities believed the remaining four had entered the cave.
Two Italians, a deep-sea rescue expert and a cave diving expert, are expected to join the recovery effort, Shareef said.
Italian officials said that around 20 other Italians on the same expedition aboard the vessel “Duke of York” were safe. Italy's embassy in Colombo was providing assistance to those onboard and had contacted the Red Crescent, which offered to deploy volunteers to help provide psychological aid.
The Maldives tourism ministry said it has suspended the operating license of the “Duke of York” pending an investigation.
The Italian foreign ministry said the cave is divided into three large chambers connected by narrow passages. Recovery teams explored two of the three chambers on Friday, but the search was limited due to considerations over oxygen and decompression.
On Saturday, they will explore the third chamber, the ministry added.
Italian officials and the honourary consul are in contact with the victims' families to provide assistance.
