Bengaluru: Ashwin Rao, son of Karnataka Lokayukta Justice V. Bhaskar Rao, was produced before Lokayukta court on Thursday in connection with extortion case.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) had arrested Ashwin Rao on July 27 in Andhra Pradesh’s Ranga Reddy district. The Karnataka Lokayukta Police had on July 1 registered an FIR against Ashwin Rao, who was accused of being a part of an extortion racket.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed by the Lokayukta office to probe the allegations against the ombudsman’s son. In the chargesheet filed against him, the SIT said “Ashwin Rao misused the premises and office of the Lokayukta and meeting hall adjacent to the chambers of Public Relation Office (PRO) of Lokayukta.”
SIT has arrested 4 other allegedly linked with the extortion racket. “The call detail records obtained during investigations “clearly establishes” that Rao was in constant touch with three other key accused in the extortion racket – middlemen V Bhaskar and Ashok Kumar and Lokayukta Public Relation Officer Syed Riyazathullah,” the investigators stated.
The members of the racket used to contact contractors and builders posing as Lokayukta officials and demand money.
