Karnataka Lokayukta Police arrested the Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI) in Chikkamagaluru and another official of the Department of School Education while taking a bribe of ₹4,000 from a contractor to clear the construction of toilets in a government school.
The names of the arrested officials are G. Ranganatha Swamy, a DDPI, and Asrar Ahmed, a Second Division Assistant.
Two schools in Hesgal gram panchayat of Mudigere taluk were selected for construction of toilets under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. The contractor, M.A. Salaluddin, had approached the officials seeking administrative approval to take up the work. The officials allegedly demanded a bribe of ₹10,000 to give administrative approval.
The contractor submitted a complaint to the police because he had audio records of the telephonic conversations with the two officials. Based on the complaint, police arrested the officials red-handed while taking ₹4,000, as part of the amount they had demanded.
