Lokayukta raids on six officials yield assets worth Rs 4.7crore

December 21, 2014

Bengaluru, Dec 21: The Lokayukta police on Saturday raided six government officials for possessing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.

The simultaneous raids were conducted at 21 premises in Bengaluru Rural, Bidar, Hassan, Mandya, Shivamogga and Dakshina Kannada districts.

The Lokayukta police have seized illegal assets to the tune of Rs 4.7 crore.The officials raided are - RTO Koppal, P G Panduranga Shetty; personal assistant to Police Superintendent, Bidar, Ashok G Mahaling; food inspector in Hassan, M Doreswamy; revenue inspector of Kasaba hobli in Srirangapatna, Mandya district, Doddaiah; assistant general manager, coal handling plant, Mysore Paper Mills Ltd in Bhadravati, G V Nanjaiah, and Junior Engineer, PWD Bantwal, Mangaluru, Arun Prakash D'Souza.

BDA site

Police said Panduranga Shetty owned a BDA site in Banaswadi Layout, Bengaluru (Rs 32 lakh) and a house (Rs 50 lakh), another site in Banaswadi Layout as a gift deed. He also owns sites in Sahakaranagar, Hennur, Dattagalli 3rd stage in Mysuru and at Tumakuru Industrial Area. Shetty has Rs 91.15 lakh worth of immovable assets and Rs 30 lakh worth of movable assets.

Ashok G Mahaling owns a house at Noubad in Bidar (Rs 36 lakh) and four sites and land, also in Bidar. The official owns immovable assets worth Rs 52 lakh and movable assets worth Rs 13.15 lakh, the police said.

Immovable assets

The Lokayukta sleuths have found documents of immovable assets worth Rs 39.65 lakh and movable assets worth Rs 22.65 lakh at food inspector Doreswamy's house. Revenue inspector Doddaiah owns immovable assets worth Rs 59.94 lakh and movable assets worth Rs 62 lakh, including gold jewellery (Rs 13.60 lakh) and bank balance (8 lakh). The official also owns two cars and three two-wheelers (Rs 24.80 lakh).

The police have seized immovable assets worth Rs 86.39 lakh from G V Nanjaiah in Bhadravati.

The immovable assets include 15 properties in and around Bhadravati taluk. The official also owns movable assets worth Rs 48 lakh, including gold (Rs 10 lakh) and fixed deposits (Rs 10 lakh).

PWD junior engineer Arun Prakash D'Souza owns immovable assets worth Rs 33.18 lakh and movable assets worth Rs 89.90 lakh, including gold ornaments (Rs 16.85 lakh) and at Karnataka Bank (Rs 16.85 lakh).

Raid in Bantwal

The Lokayukta police on Saturday raided the house and office of Public Works Department Junior Engineer Arun Prakash D'Souza from Bantwal for alleged possession of assets disproportionate to his income.

A release said Mr. D'Souza has been accused of owning assets worth Rs. 89.9 lakh as against his income of Rs. 27 lakh.

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Elusive bamboo shrimp resurfaces in Mangaluru estuary after 70 years

News Network

December 7,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 7: A rare bamboo shrimp has been rediscovered on mainland India more than 70 years after it was last reported, confirming for the first time the presence of Atyopsis spinipes in the country. The find was made by researchers from the Centre for Climate Change Studies at Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, during surveys in Karnataka and Odisha.

The team — shrimp expert Dr S Prakash, PhD scholar K Kunjulakshmi, and Mangaluru-based researcher Maclean Antony Santos — combined field surveys, ecological assessments and DNA analysis to identify the elusive species. Their findings, published in Zootaxa, resolve decades of taxonomic confusion stemming from a 1951 report that misidentified the species as Atyopsis moluccensis without strong evidence.

The shrimp has now been confirmed at two locations: the Mulki–Pavanje estuary near Mangaluru and the Kuakhai River in Bhubaneswar. Historical specimens from the Andaman Islands, previously labelled as A. moluccensis, were also found to be misidentified and actually belong to A. spinipes.

The rediscovery began after an aquarium hobbyist in Odisha spotted a shrimp in 2022, prompting systematic surveys across Udupi, Karwar and Mangaluru. Four female specimens were collected in Mulki and one in Odisha, all genetically matching.

Researchers warn the species may exist in very small, vulnerable populations as freshwater habitats face increasing pressure from pollution, sand mining and infrastructure development. All verified specimens have been deposited with the Zoological Survey of India for future reference.

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