IAS officer in ACB net after Karnataka HC flak

July 5, 2022

The sleuths of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested former Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Bengaluru Urban district, J Manjunath in connection with a corruption case. The arrest comes days after the Karnataka High Court pulled up the ACB for not cracking down on IAS and IPS officers.
Manjunath, an IAS officer who was the DC for Bengaluru Urban district, was transferred as the director for Integrated Child Protection Scheme on July 1 after the high court made serious observations about the functioning of the ACB while hearing the bail petition of an accused in a corruption case. The ACB officials, who had not named Manjunath as an accused in the case reported on May 21, had reportedly made him accused number three.
It is said that Manjunath, who was questioned by ACB officers on Saturday, had moved an anticipatory bail plea. However, continuing the investigation into the case, the IAS officer was arrested by the ACB police on Monday.
A resident of Begur had moved a revenue appeal in the DC’s court in connection with a 38-gunta land in Koodlu near Anekal. To issue an order in his favour, Deputy Tahsildar/Manager Mahesh had allegedly demanded Rs 5 lakh. On May 21, the ACB officials trapped Chethan Kumar, DC’s court assistant, while he was accepting the bribe on behalf of Mahesh, and the two were arrested. However, the ACB had received flak as they had not booked the DC, though the complainant had mentioned his name.