Daijiworld Media Network – Puttur (SP)

Puttur, Mar 29: K R Nayak, an excise officer, was trapped by the Lokayukta officials while accepting bribe from headload workers in the form of commission, on Monday March 28.

Nayak works as the manager of the beverages godown of the excise department here. About 20 labourers are engaged here for unloading liquor bottles from trucks, and again, for loading them onto the vehicles of the permitted dealers. These labourers get wages of about Rs 15,000 on an average per day. Allegedly, K R Nayak used to collect 20 percent of the wages as his commission without any concession or exception. The workers, who were suffering this loss of wages since about a year, were feeling frustrated. Reportedly, he threatened them with hiring extra workers and reduce their average income, if they were not agreeable to part with the commission.

One of the workers named Bhaskar had complained to the Lokayukta about the corrupt ways of the officer on March 26. On Monday, the Lokayukta officials laid out a trap to nab him red-handed. The officer was arrested immediately after Bhaskar handed over Rs 3,812 to K R Nayak.

Lokayukta superintendent of police, D S Jagammayyanavar, deputy superintendent of police, Sadanand Varnekar, inspectors, Uaday Nayak and Dilip, along with some other officials,  participated in the raid. Nayak was later produced in the court.