The Yaddrami Police have registered a complaint against 10 persons on the charge of auctioning gram panchayat seats at Bilvar village in Yaddrami taluk even as the GP polls are scheduled for December 27.
In a video of the alleged bidding that went viral on social media, an auctioneer is seen announcing that the minimum bid amount for the seats at Ward No.1 is ₹26.55 lakh, and each member would get a grant of ₹2.5 crore if elected.
The general category seat was auctioned for ₹8.55 lakh, the SC reserved (woman) for ₹7.25 lakh, SC reserved (man) for ₹5.50 lakh, and ST (woman) for ₹5.25 lakh.
Further, he said that those with the highest bid were to be elected unopposed by the villagers.
Superintendent of Police Simi Mariam George, speaking to presspersons on Thursday, said that a complaint has been registered and 10 persons have been named in the complaint about their involvement in the auction.
These include Golappa Mygeri, Hanumanth Dore, Hanumanthraya and Babluwan Padashetty, Rammana Gowda, Honnappa Gowda, Basawappagowda Navane, Mallu Kodamanalli, Gowdappagowda Bommanalli, and Madivalappa.
The accused, on December 3, allegedly arranged an auction in the village and tried to grab the seats of the Bilvar Gram Panchayat with the influence of money, Ms. George added.
