Karnataka: This costly mistake by corrupt official Biradar's son led ACB to cut water pipes and seize cash
The ACB officials who recovered lakhs of cash from the water outlet pipe from Shantha Gowda Biradar's house two days ago has revealed that had his son not gazed at the washing machine and the water outlet pipes frequently officials would not have doubted.
FollowWhen Anti Corruption Bureau officials (ACB) raided Shantha Gowda Biradar, Junior Engineer attached with the Public Works Department, they did not have any hint or clue about the hidden cash, but the behaviors of the corrupt official's son did him in.
According to a senior official attached with ACB Kalburgi Division, accused Biradar has 54 lakhs with him during raids and the amount were stashed in water pipes to avoid getting caught during raids."Accused biradar did not open the door for about 20 minutes despite ringing the bell and made the officials wait.
This apart, during the search operation Biradar's son showed restlessness and was frequently visiting the bathroom to check the washing machine and was gazing at the water outlet pipes. This led to doubt which exposed them." said a senior official.
The ACB team did not want this matter to be disclosed as it may send out a clue to other such corrupt officials who may also be thinking on the same lines. However, after the expose that led the officials to cut open the pipe and recover the cash, plans may have changed, observed another senior official.
On Wednesday, ACB conducted state-wide raids to nail corrupt officials. 408 officials were deployed in 68 locations to expose 15 black sheep from various departments in the government.
Biradar owns a farmhouse and has laid a concrete road from the village to his farmhouse. It is said that he also has Benami properties and used to take tenders for civil works, while he only used to clear the projects as a Junior Engineer. The officials also found that the accused who had 2 acres of land when he joined the service, now owns 35 acres land in Kalaburagi and surroundings in North Karnataka.
After the arrest for non-cooperation and hiding of cash in the pipe, the accused staged chest pain to escape jail stay. But the doctors at GIMS hospital busted his lies and he was sent back to jail.
