‘Paid Rs 15 lakh to dist in-charge minister’: Davanagere officer-contractor conversation goes viral
Davangere: An alleged audio interaction between City Corporation Manager Venkatesh and contractor Krishna, who fell into the trap of the Lokayukta on accusations of demanding Rs 7 lakh to give the excise tender, has reportedly gone viral.
Contractor Krishna has accused the Corporation Manager Venkatesh was caught on audio stating that ‘a payment of Rs 15 lakh has even been made to the district in-charge minister (Urban Development Minister Byrathi Basavaraj)’, it is learned.
Krishna, along with Sri Rama Sene leaders, addressed a joint press conference on Monday.
“In 2021, I obtained the contract for excise collection. I had requested the municipal commissioner to extend the period of the contract due to apparent loss. The Commissioner then notified me to contact Corporation Manager Venkatesh in this regard. To renew the contract, Venkatesh put forth a demand of Rs 7 lakh in bribes and received Rs 2 lakh in advance. On Sunday night, when he was receiving the additional Rs 3 lakh rupees, he fell into the Lokayukta’s trap”, Krishna revealed.
Demand to take action against municipal commissioner, minister:
Shri Rama Sene’s District President Manikanta has demanded action to be taken against the municipal commissioner for taking lakhs of rupees in bribe money to allocate the excise tender. “The High Court and the District Court have already registered cases concerning incidents of corruption that have occurred in the jurisdiction of the Municipal Corporation and the district”, he informed.
“Concerning the renewal of the excise contract in the jurisdiction of the Davanagere City Municipal Corporation, the Corporation’s Commissioner had put forth a demand of Rs 7 lakh for six months’ contract renewal. Upon discussion, it was agreed that, first, an advance amount of Rs 2 lakh was to be given, and the remaining Rs 5 lakh would be paid after signing the renewal order. In the background of this agreement, when the person went to pay the money on Sunday night, the Lokayukta conducted a raid and arrested Venkatesh”, Manikanta added.
“The Lokayukta conducted the raid at Venkatesh’s room near the Ram and Co circle in the city when he was receiving Rs 3 lakh on Sunday night. He has been taken into judicial custody. Since corruption is underway at all levels of the City Corporation, the Lokayukta officials must take necessary action against this”, he requested.
“Apart from this, the Corporation’s employee Venkatesh, during his conversation with Krishna, had stated that he had recently paid an amount of Rs 15 lakh to the Davanagere District In-charge Minister Byrathi Basavaraj. Therefore the Lokayukta must also investigate the minister”, he demanded.
Concerning the audio recording of the conversation between Venkatesh and Krishna, he urged the Lokayukta police to undertake a comprehensive investigation and take appropriate action against those found guilty.
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RR beat RCB by six wickets in IPL
Guwahati (PTI): Blistering fifties by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Dhruv Jurel powered Rajasthan Royals to a six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their IPL match here on Friday.
Sent in to bat, RCB rode on a fighting half-century by skipper Rajat Patidar (63) to post 201 for 8.
Virat Kohli (32), Romario Shepherd (22) and Venkatesh Iyer (29) also chipped in with useful contributions.
In reply, Sooryavanshi (78 off 26 balls) and Dhruv Jurel (81 not out off 43 balls) shared a 37-ball 108-run partnership for the second wicket to set the platform. Krunal Pandya (2/30) tried to bring them back with back-to-back wickets.
But Jurel, in the company of Ravindra Jadeja (24), completed the task with another 68-run stand, with two overs to spare.
For RR, Jofra Archer (2/33), Ravi Bishnoi (2/32) and Brijesh Sharma (2/37) took two wickets.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 201 for 8 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 63; Jofra Archer 2/33, Ravi Bishnoi 2/32, Brijesh Sharma 2/37).
Rajasthan Royals: 202 for 4 in 18 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 78, Dhruv Jurel 80 not out; Krunal Pandya 2/30, Josh Hazlewood 2/44).
