After the arrest of Ningappa Sawant, a former head constable, a fortnight ago, the Karnataka Lokayukta mentioned former Bengaluru Lokayukta SP Srinath Joshi M. as co-accused and has written to the Chief Secretary to take action against him as per the All India Services (Conduct) Rules.

A probe allegedly revealed that Ningappa, who has proximity with Joshi, used to target government officials posing as Lokayukta officers and extort money threatening to foist cases against them.

Lokayukta officials said preliminary findings established the link of the accused IPS officer, Joshi, which violates the service rules. The Lokayukta has also asked the government to submit an action taken report.

According to an official release, even though there were no complaints, the Lokayukta, based on the information, took up a case and registered an FIR against the accused under the PC Act.

Investigations revealed that Ningappa sent intimidating WhatsApp messages to officials, allegedly demanding bribes using the codeword “KG“, and the probe found that the accused had opened 24 crypto wallets to invest in cryptocurrency to convert the black money into white. Analysis of the accused’s mobile also revealed that 13 out of 24 crypto wallets were found to have transactions amounting to over ₹4.92 crore.

The Lokayukta also announced that it has set up an “internal monitoring wing” to keep a check on erring officials. It also asked the government to appoint judicial and other officers.

Earlier, Lokayukta officials submitted a proposal to set up such a wing using the officials transferred from Anti Anti-Corruption Bureau to monitor internal irregularities, but the proposal was turned down by the government. However, with Lokayukta having over 1900 staff and considering the increasing number of complaints and cases, especially against the police officials, it has become necessary to have an internal monitoring cell for a free and fair probe. Hence, the Lokayukta has set up a unit temporarily and has asked the government to sanction a judicial officials and required staff to head the probe, sources said .

Taking serious note of the extortion cases through impersonators, the Lokayukta said that as many as 41 FIRs were registered across the State.

“Lokayukta as an institute is working hard to contain corruption, and some impersonators misusing the name of Lokayukta are trying to defame and extort money from the government officials. People who get such calls or messages can approach Lokayukta directly or call 080 – 22011205, 080 – 22011273 or mail at kla.citysp2-ka@nic.in,” said the release.