Bidar Municipal Commissioner arrested on corruption charge

The Bidar Market Police on Saturday arrested K. Narasimhamurthy, Commissioner of Municipal Council, and S.M. Hemesh, senior registrar, on corruption charge and produced them before the jurisdictional court which sent them to judicial custody. The arrest comes after a complaint on Friday by Balabheema Kamble, Planning Director at Bidar District Urban Development Cell, and directions from Harsh Gupta, Regional Commissioner (Kalaburagi Division). A case has been registered against the accused under Section 262(a)(1) of the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant), 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property), 420 (cheating), 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 13(1) of PCR Act. Mr. Kamble, in his complaint, had alleged that the accused had incurred heavy losses to the exchequer by selling municipal property to private parties at just ₹28,890 against the market price of ₹1.27 crore. He alleged that the officers conspired and violated all norms and guidelines and did not obtain any permission from the government. Sangappa Hunasikatti, Deputy Superintendent of Police, has been designated as Investigating Officer.