By IANS,
Bangalore/New Delhi : A legislator of Karnataka’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was Thursday caught taking a bribe of Rs.500,000 to close a criminal case, an official of the state ombudsman said.
The legislator, Y. Sampangi, has been suspended from the primary membership of the party, state BJP chief D.V. Sadananda Gowda told reporters in New Delhi.
“Yes. He has been arrested while accepting the bribe, Rs.50,000 in cash and the rest in self cheques,” said Santosh Hegde, retired judge of the Supreme Court who heads the Karnataka Lokayukta (anti-corruption ombudsman).
Hegde said the Lokayukta police nabbed Sampangi from the legislators’ hostel, less than a kilometre from the state secretariat building Vidhana Soudha.
The man who was giving the bribe, for getting the criminal case against him closed, has been identified only as Farooq, a resident of Kolar Gold Fields.
Farooq informed the Lokayukta about the deal he had struck with the legislator which helped the police catch him red handed, Hegde said.
Hegde said the Lokayukta will inform the state assembly speaker about the arrest.
“Once the investigation is over, a charge sheet will be filed under anti-corruption laws,” he added.