Complaint lodged with Lokayukta against minister Shivananda Patil, officials over APMC ‘irregularities’

BENGALURU: A complaint has been filed against APMC Minister Shivananada Patil, alleging irregularities in allotment of shops at the Agricultural Produce Market Committees. The complaint, filed with the Karnataka Lokayukta, accuses Patil of illegally granting licences and renewing them through corrupt means.

It is alleged that licences were issued to traders with fake addresses after taking bribes. Some traders have lodged the complaint, seeking action against Patil and APMC Secretary Doreswamy and deputy secretary Somashekar. Earlier, they had approached the Governor’s office with similar allegations.

“We have filed a complaint against the minister, secretary and deputy secretary over corruption in issuing NoCs, issuing licences based on fake documents and renewing them after taking bribes. The Lokayukta authorities said they will call us again on April 15 when we will submit the evidence. We have sought a thorough investigation into the corruption in APMC”, said Parameshwar, a trader.

“We met the minister several times over thie issue, but he did nothing. They want to evict the potato and onion traders from Dasanapura and hand over the shops to traders from Yeshwantpur. Nothing is transparent in the functioning of the department”, said Shivanand, another trader.