The Karnataka Lokayukta Police on Saturday arrested three officials of the state Excise Department after corruption allegations emerged in connection with the processing of a bar licence application. Those arrested include Deputy Commissioner Jagadish Nayak and Superintendent KM Thammaiah, who were allegedly caught red-handed while accepting Rs 25 lakh. An excise constable, Lakkappa Gani, was also taken into custody for his alleged role in the case.
The action followed a complaint filed by a man named Lakshminarayan, who accused the officials of demanding a bribe of Rs 80 lakh in exchange for granting him a C7 bar licence. In his complaint, Lakshminarayan specifically named Nayak and Thammaiah, alleging that they had sought the illegal payment as a condition for clearing his application.
Based on the complaint, the Lokayukta police set a trap to verify the allegations. During the operation, Nayak and Thammaiah were allegedly caught while accepting Rs 25 lakh, which was said to be part of the total bribe amount demanded. Investigators said the excise constable, Gani, was tasked with collecting the money from the complainant and handing it over to the senior officials.
Officials involved in the investigation said that further probing is underway to establish the full extent of the alleged corruption and to determine whether more individuals were involved. They added that additional action would be taken based on the findings of the ongoing inquiry.
In a similar incident last year, the Lokayukta police arrested a senior official of the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 1.5 lakh. That case was registered following a complaint by an individual named Ravi, who alleged that the official, Narendra Kumar, demanded money to prepare and approve an official sketch. Acting on the complaint, the Lokayukta laid a trap and arrested the official while he was allegedly accepting the bribe.
