Karnataka:
An allegation of corruption against the office of Karnataka's Lokayukta or anti-graft commission, will ironically now be investigated by the Bengaluru police's crime branch.
A police officer, Sonia Narang, says she has received a complaint from a man who alleges that someone from the Lokayukta office asked him to pay one crore in bribe to avoid being raided.
Ms Narang, who is deputed to the Lokayukta office, had written about this to its Registrar.
The Lokayukta had initially had ordered an internal inquiry on the matter. Amid the demand for his resignation by activists, however, the state's Lokayukta, Justice Y Bhaskara Rao, said today, "We thought it was better that the Lokayukta did not investigate this and we have transferred all the cases to the city Crime Branch for a fair investigation."
He added, "If there is anything in the report, I will definitely resign before you."
A first information report or FIR has not been registered in the matter yet, as investigations are yet to ascertain who at the Lokayukta office had allegedly asked for the bribe.
To allegations that his relatives were involved, Justice Rao said today, "Nobody is involved...these are wrong allegations...nobody is involved."
R Bhaskaran, a Right to Information or RTI activist said, "These charges are not baseless. They are based on a concrete letter written by the Lokayukta SP herself addressed to the Registrar, Lokayukta. In her letter she has mentioned in detail what is going on in the Lokayukta."
Mr Bhaskaran alleged that the Karnataka Lokayukta, which has previously won widespread praise as being one of the most transparent and disciplined anti-graft bodies commissions in the country, "now has the dubious distinction of being a corruption factory."