PWD junior engineer tells police that cash was for cheque bounce case

BENGALURU: The PWD junior engineer Jagadish, who was caught on the Vidhana Soudha premises with Rs 10.5 lakh on Thursday, has told the police during questioning that the case was meant to be paid to another person in a cheque bounce case.

Jagadish said he had borrowed Rs 10 lakh from a businessman, Mrutyunjaya, in Mandya on interest and after his cheque bounced, a court had ordered him to pay Rs 12 lakh with penalty. A non-bailable warrant had also been issued against him.

Jagadish claimed that he borrowed the money from his relative C Shivaprasad, a resident of Lingarajapuram in Begaluru, to pay off the Mandya businessman. Shivaprasad retired from the army man as a Subedar.

Advocate Nagaraju said Junior engineer Jagadish arrest was illegal.

Advocate Nagaraju, who is representing Jagadish, on Friday clarified saying, “We have submitted all documents to the police related to the case. There was a cheque bounce case against Jagadish and hence, he had come to borrow the money and return it to the person who had filed the case. It was not to bribe anybody. When he came near Vidhana Soudha, he got a call from the concerned person to meet him there before going back to Mandya. Hence, he went directly to meet that person”.

Mandya Junior Engineer Jagadish was caught by the police with Rs 10.5 lakh cash.

The advocate further said the police had forcibly taken Jagadish into custody and termed it an illegal arrest. “The police have behaved disrespectfully with us. There is no provision to arrest my client. He is a government employee”, Nagaraju further said.

The police have seized Jagadish’s phone and will check the call records. A case has been booked under Section 98 of the Karnataka Police Act and Section 102 CrPC against Jagadish, said Depuyt Commissioner of Police Srinivas Gowda.