FIR filed against 14 officials over misuse of funds

Chamarajanagara: In a major development, an FIR has been registered against 14 officials in connection with the alleged misappropriation of funds related to 21 drinking water units within the Kollegal Town Municipality limits. The financial irregularities are said to have occurred over a span of eight years, between July 21, 2014, and July 27, 2022.

The complaint was filed by Kollegal Municipal Commissioner A. Ramesh, following which the Kollegal Town Police registered the FIR on May 22. Those named in the FIR include both current and former municipal officials and staff.

According to sources, crores of rupees collected from the Reverse Osmosis (RO) water plants were misused by officials over the years. The issue first came to light when town municipal council member Jayamari submitted a formal complaint to the Directorate of Municipal Administration and the Deputy Commissioner’s (DC) office. Acting on the complaint, the then Sub-Divisional Officer Geetha Huded, now serving as the Additional Deputy Commissioner, was instructed by DC Shilpa Nag to conduct an inquiry. A detailed investigation was carried out and a report was submitted to the DC on December 13, 2022.

Based on this investigation, the then DC D.S. Ramesh recommended that a criminal case be filed against the officials involved. He issued directions to the Municipal Commissioner to initiate legal proceedings against those who had served in various capacities at the Kollegal Municipality office.

This included seven former municipal commissioners, the current office manager, accounts superintendent, a former Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE), a Junior Engineer (JE), and other subordinate staff. The DC also instructed the municipal authorities to submit a follow-up report regarding the actions taken in response to the complaint.

The FIR names several key individuals, including former Planning Director of the DUDC K. Suresh, retired municipal commissioner Nagashetty, former commissioners D.K. Lingaraju and Vijay, former AEE Altaf Ahmed, current accounts superintendent Hanumantharaju, office manager Lingaraju, retired assistant engineer C.M. Nataraju, retired junior engineer Siddappa, retired second division assistant Jayachitra, and four current watermen of the municipality—Mallappa, Chikkasiddayya, Nagaraju, and Sagar.

Chamarajanagar Deputy Commissioner Shilpa Nag has confirmed the registration of the case and stated that legal proceedings will be carried out in accordance with the law.