8 months ago
8 months ago
2 months ago
BENGALURU: In a major anti-corruption crackdown, the Karnataka Lokayukta police trapped and arrested a Bengaluru police inspector on Thursday, January 30, 2026, while he was allegedly accepting a bribe of ₹4 lakh.
The accused has been identified as Govindaraju, the Circle Inspector attached to the KP Agrahara police station. He was caught red-handed at the City Armed Reserve (CAR) grounds in Chamarajpet around 4:30 PM.
The Complaint: Extortion over a Cheating Case The arrest followed a complaint filed by Mohammed Akbar, a 42-year-old builder. Akbar alleged that Govindaraju had demanded a total bribe of ₹5 lakh to "extend favors" in a criminal cheating case registered at the KP Agrahara station.
According to the complaint:
The Inspector demanded ₹5 lakh to drop Akbar’s name from the case and help him secure bail.
Akbar had already paid an advance of ₹1 lakh on January 24 near Sirsi Circle.
Unwilling to pay the remaining ₹4 lakh, Akbar approached the Lokayukta with audio recordings of the bribe demand as evidence.
The arrest became a public spectacle when Govindaraju, who arrived at the trap location in his official police jeep and in full uniform, began screaming and resisting the Lokayukta officers. A video of the incident has since gone viral on social media, showing the inspector shouting in an apparent attempt to gain public sympathy or alert his colleagues.
Former Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao condemned the incident on 'X', calling it "disgraceful conduct" that let down the over one lakh police personnel in the state.
Inspector Govindaraju has been booked under Section 7(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. In a simultaneous operation on the same day, Lokayukta officials also raided the properties of former KIADB official Tejesh Kumar N, seizing assets worth ₹26.5 crore.
