Lokayukta police raid Ambedkar Devt corporation

BENGALURU: The Lokayukta police on Tuesday raided the Ambedkar Development Corporation office near Vasanthnagar early on Tuesday morning, and carried out a search at the office. The raid follows numerous complaints and allegations of illegal activities and was led by Superintendent of Police Shivaprakash Devaraj.

The corporation, which used to provide loans ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh on a subsidy basis to backward‑class individuals, is accused of creating fake candidates and fabricating documents to sanction loans. It is alleged that about Rs 10 crore of corporation funds were misappropriated. A case was already registered with the Lokayukta under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PC Act).

Lokayukta SP Shivaprakash Devaraj said the probe is ongoing and that more arrests may follow. A complaint was filed by a person named Gururaj. Investigations have revealed that from 2020 to 2023, the corporation continued to disburse loans to cooperative societies and banks, and that fake documents were used to issue loans amounting to roughly Rs 3 crore–Rs 4 crore.

A city court issued a search warrant, and the raid began at 6.30 am to seize original records. During the operation, five houses belonging to the accused and the corporation’s Bengaluru office were searched. A total of eight individuals have been named in the case; three of them have already retired, and documents related to the alleged Rs 3 crore fraud have been recovered.