K’taka Lokayukta stabbed in office, escapes fatal injury
BENGALURU: Karnataka Lokayukta Vishwanath Shetty was injured when a complainant stabbed him in his Bengaluru office on Wednesday, police said.
The anti-corruption ombudsman was rushed to the nearby Mallya Hospital, where chief minister Siddaramaiah paid him a visit. Siddaramaiah said he was out of danger and the suspect, identified as Tejaraj Sharma, had been arrested.
Sharma, 33, a private furniture contractor from Tumakuru in southeast Karnataka, was allegedly angry with the Lokayukta that his complaints about a local government office not giving him a contract because of suspected corruption had not been investigated thoroughly, police said.
Police Commissioner T Suneel Kumar said Sharma had visited the Lokayukta repeatedly, but to no avail. “During interrogation he revealed that the Lokayukta police dismissed his complaints as being untrue,” Kumar said.
“He had visited the office around four times in the past. It was premeditated and, hence, we have registered a case of attempted murder,” Kumar said. The commissioner added that a metal detector in the lobby of the building had not been functioning and the security guard provided to the Lokayukta was waiting outside the cabin. “Shetty sustained four wounds, but he is out of danger.”
The entry register showed Sharma entered the government complex, known as the Multistorey Building, at around 12.45 pm to meet the Lokayukta, which is tasked with probing corruption charges against public servants.
A person in the Lokayukta office, who did not wish to be named, said she heard screams from Shetty’s chamber around 1.45 pm. Staff rushed into the room immediately and the guard overpowered Sharma.
A former Karnataka high court judge, Shetty took over as the anti-corruption ombudsman in January 2017.
His appointment was hit by controversy when some activists accused him of corruption, saying his family had amassed a large number of properties. The governor gave his go-ahead to the appointment after seeking clarifications from the government about Shetty, who was the unanimous choice of the selection panel.