Bengaluru, Jan 17 (IANS) Karnataka Lokayukta sleuths arrested the Deputy Commissioner and two other officials attached to the Excise Department while they were allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 25 lakh for issuing a bar licence, an official said on Saturday.
The accused had allegedly demanded a total bribe of Rs 80 lakh and were caught while receiving the first instalment, the official said.
An official statement by the Lokayukta said that the Karnataka Lokayukta Police arrested three officials following a complaint by C. Lakshminarayana. The complainant had applied for a bar licence (CL-7) with the Excise Department.
Those arrested were identified as Jagadeesh Naik, Excise Deputy Commissioner; K.M. Thammanna, Superintendent of Excise; and Lakkappa Gani, Excise Constable, all attached to the Office of Bangalore Urban District-8.
The complaint alleged that Deputy Commissioner Jagadeesh Naik and Superintendent Thammanna demanded a bribe of Rs 80 lakh to grant the CL-7 licence and a microbrewery licence.
Lakshminarayana approached the Lokayukta police, who laid a trap and caught them red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 25 lakh. Excise Constable Lakkappa Gani, who was allegedly involved in delivering the bribe amount, was also arrested.
The Lokayukta police are conducting further investigation into the matter. The arrest of the Deputy Commissioner and other officials has sent shockwaves through the Excise Department, and a thorough probe is underway to uncover any other potential corruption.
The accused have been booked under the provisions of Section 7(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the statement said.
In June 2025, Karnataka Lokayukta officials arrested a senior officer of the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) in Bengaluru after catching him accepting a Rs 1.5 lakh bribe in a trap operation linked to approval of sketches and related permissions.
In May 2025, Lokayukta police laid a trap in Bengaluru and detained a police inspector and sub-inspector from Kempegowda Nagar Police Station after they were found accepting a Rs 1 lakh bribe from a complainant seeking favour in a criminal case.
In Mangaluru, Lokayukta police trapped three officials attached to the Land Records Department for allegedly accepting bribes totalling around Rs 30,000 from an outsourced employee for processing salary bills and contract extension in November 2025.
–IANS
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