Lokayukta sleuths raid seven officers in disproportionate assets case
Bengaluru (PTI:) The Lokayukta sleuths on Friday raided seven officers and carried out searches at multiple locations in connection with the disproportionate assets case.
According to a senior Lokayukta police officer, the raids were against two officers each in Bengaluru and Belagavi, and one each in Chitradurga, Raichur, and Bagalkote.
The officers include Sanjay Manded, First Division Assistant at the Sub-Registrar office in Belagavi South, Shashidhar, Manager in the District Backward Class department in Chitradurga, Shivalingaiah Hiremath, Panchayat Development Officer in Holageri Grama Panchayat in Bagalkote.
The other officers are Madhav Rao, Assistant Executive Engineer in the Hebbal Engineering Department of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, T K Ramesh, Deputy Secretary in the Rural Development and Panchyatraj Department, Narasinga Rao Gujjar, Assistant Accounts Officer, Raichur District Panchayat and Sanjay Annappa Durgannavar, Supervisor, Animal Husbandry Department.
The raids started early in the morning simultaneously and would continue till the evening, Lokayukta sources said.
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SC grants bail to filmmaker Vikram Bhatt in cheating case
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Thursday granted bail to filmmaker Vikram Bhatt in a multi-crore rupees cheating case lodged in Rajasthan.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi also regularised the interim bail granted earlier to Bhatt's wife Shwetambari Bhatt in the case.
Shwetambari Bhatt was granted interim bail on February 13.
Earlier on January 31, the Rajasthan High Court had rejected their bail applications in the cheating case.
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They were arrested in Mumbai and brought to Udaipur in December last year.
While granting bail to both, the top court asked the parties to make efforts for arriving at an amicable solution through mediation.
Complainant Ajay Murdia, founder of Indira IVF and Fertility Centre and a resident of Udaipur, has alleged in his complaint that Bhatt and his wife induced him to invest over Rs 30 crore in a biopic of his late wife, promising high returns.
Vikram Bhatt was arrested after Murdia filed a complaint of cheating and criminal breach of trust against the filmmaker, his wife and others, alleging that funds taken in the name of a film project were misappropriated.
The complaint has alleged that funds to the tune of Rs 30 crore were misappropriated. The complaint alleged that the Bhatts prepared fake bills under various names and got money transferred from the complainant.
The money was supposed to be for making films for the complainant, but was allegedly deposited into the accused's own accounts and used by them.
Apart from Vikram and his wife, Udaipur-based Dinesh Kataria and Bhatt's manager, Mehboob Ansari, were also arrested by Rajasthan Police on December 7, 2025.
