Karnataka minister's '80 lakh for posting' remark triggers oppn outcry

The death of a Karnataka police inspector and a remark by a minister regarding possible corruption has come to haunt the BJP government in the state.

HL Nandeesh, a police inspector posted in KR Puram police station in Bengaluru, died of a heart attack days after he was suspended for apparent dereliction of duty as a bar was open beyond permissible hours.

MTB Nagaraj, state minister for small-scale industries and municipal administration, while visiting the house of the inspector to pay his last respects on Thursday, was heard saying while talking to police officers and his followers: “Same tension. What else could be there? What can he do if he pays Rs 70-80 lakh for posting?”

Suddenly someone mentions that “the media is there”. A video of the incident is widely circulated on social media.

The minister’s remark gives a strong indication that bribe money was paid to acquire favourable postings. However, the minister and the party have been silent since.

JDS leader and former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy pressed the government to conduct a probe into the remark, saying that it was learnt that the inspector was under mental pressure.

Kumaraswamy shared the video on his Twitter link and asked the government, “The Sangh-Sanskar government should tell the truth.”

Opposition leader of the upper house in Karnataka BK Hariprasad too demanded a probe, suspecting a conspiracy behind the inspector’s death.

Also read: Karnataka PSI recruitment: The 4-step scam, and how it was detected

Interestingly, the minister had on Thursday criticised the police commissioner for suspending Nandeesh for such a “silly” reason.

He had asked whether the inspector was suspended for some serious offence like taking a bribe or other grave mistake, and slammed the commissioner, saying, it won’t be possible to return the inspector to his children, and questioned whether the commissioner did not have a family or a sense of humanity.

This is the latest controversy hitting the BJP government in Karnataka which has been punctured by allegations of taking 30-40 per cent bribe by a section of traders and PSI scam.