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ACB raids BDA offices: No question of shielding guilty, says Karnataka CM Bommai
Around 100 Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials raided the BDA offices on Friday after widespread corruption was alleged by SR Vishwanath, BDA chairman and BJP legislator from Yelahanka.
Karnataka chief minister Basvaraj Bommai on Sunday said that anyone guilty of corruption will not be spared as allegations of corruption surfaced in the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA), the principal planning authority of Bengaluru. “Our government will not tolerate corruption in any form. There is no question of shielding anyone found guilty,” Bommai said.
Around 100 Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials raided the BDA offices on Friday after widespread corruption was alleged by SR Vishwanath, BDA chairman and BJP legislator from Yelahanka.
“The ACB conducted a raid recently at the BDA office. We will act on the report to be submitted by the ACB. The truth will come out. There is no question of shielding anyone found to be involved in corruption,” Bommai said. He also said, “SR Vishwanath, who is the Chairman of BDA, had also drawn my attention in this regard. Urban Development Department officials have been instructed to investigate the complaints. The guilty, whoever it may be, however influential they may be, we will take action. BDA needs cleanup in the interest of delivering its services to the common man.”
The BDA is one of the major departments that come under the Bengaluru district in-charge portfolio that Bommai continues to retain for avoiding the infighting within his cabinet members. Ex-CM B S Yediyurappa too had retained control over Bengaluru for the same reason, said people familiar with the developments.
The corruption in the BDA comes at the time when the Bommai-led BJP government is still facing heat from the opposition on the Bitcoin scam. Congress has been relentless in its attacks on the Bommai government over the alleged laundering of money using the cryptocurrency with the help of a hacker named Srikrishna or Sriki.
This is not the first time the BDA has come under the scanner. Earlier in 2010, irregular site allotments had started a series of corruption charges against Yediyurappa, which eventually led to him stepping down from the CM post.
