Two Karnataka govt officers held for writing ‘fake letter’ to Governor complaining against agriculture minister

PTI, Aug 21, 2023, 8:07 AM IST

Two agriculture officers from Mandya district have been arrested by the CID in connection with the ”fake letter” written to Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot complaining to him that state Agriculture Minister N Chaluvarayaswamy sought bribes.

According to a top CID officer, the two agriculture department officers were arrested from KR Pet in the district for writing the ‘fake letter’ on behalf of seven assistant agriculture directors.

In July, Raj Bhavan had received the purported letter complaining that the minister was exerting pressure on the officers and employees of the agriculture department through the joint director of agriculture to pay him bribe ranging from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh.

They even threatened to die by suicide with their families if such a ”tradition” of demanding bribes is not controlled.

Accordingly, the Governor sent the letter to Chief Secretary Vandita Sharma to look into the complaint and initiate appropriate action.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Chaluvarayaswamy termed the letter fake and accused the opposition BJP and the JD(S) of being involved in it.

Siddaramaiah later handed over the case to the CID for investigation, which arrested the two officers.

Condemning the arrest, former chief minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy said the arrests of the officers proved the charges of minister’s involvement in transfer and extortion business to be true.

The former chief minister said: ”Keep aside the discussion whether the letter (to the Governor) was fake or genuine but now the truth has come out that there was transfer business happening in the agriculture department.” ”Why did the officers write the letter? Whether the officers are from Mysuru or Mandya but the fact is the truth has come out,” he claimed.