Agriculture department official caught red-handed while accepting bribe in Mangaluru
Mangaluru (PTI): A deputy director of the agriculture department was caught red-handed by Lokayukta personnel while accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lakh.
Bharatamma, deputy director of agriculture, Mangaluru, had asked for the bribe in exchange for processing a bill concerning the funds allocated for acquiring saplings for plantation under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana in Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada district.
The complainant, N P Paramesh, had been serving as a range forest officer (RFO) in the forest department on deputation to the watershed department of the agriculture department and he had retired from service on August 31.
There was an outstanding amount of Rs 50 lakh owed to nursery owners and contractors for the saplings they had provided.
The complainant had contacted Bharathamma on October 4 and requested her to settle the bill.
However, the official demanded a bribe amounting to 15 per cent of the total bill for its clearance. On October 20, the complainant revisited her to inquire about the bill, and at that point, she reduced the bribe amount to Rs 1 lakh. He later lodged a complaint with the Lokayukta, following which the official was arrested on Saturday.
Lokayukta superintendent of police C A Simon said here on Sunday that Bharathamma has been arrested and will be presented in court. The operation was executed under the supervision of Lokayukta SP, with the assistance of Deputy SP Kalavathi, B Chaluvaraju, inspector P Suresh Kumar and other personnel.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
