Belagavi
A complaint has been registered against the Women and Child Development Department for defrauding lakhs of rupees by promising jobs. The department’s minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar had also written a letter in this regard. There has been a delay in filing an FIR as the aggrieved party has not come forward to file a complaint, said District Superintendent of Police Dr Bhimashankar Guleda.
The main accused. Manjunath Mallasarja, has received more than Rs 30 lakh from 14 people. He has also forged the signature of the Governor, the Women and Child Development Minister and his close aides. It has been found that the letterheads of the ministers were used, he told a press conference.
A woman named Kavya has claimed that she was cheated by giving money. However, she has not come forward to file a complaint. We have to file a case because the signatures of the Governor and the Minister were forged. We have served a notice to Kavya regarding this and tried to convince her, but she has not filed a complaint. Four months later, another woman filed a written complaint, so a case has now been registered. Earlier, the accused was not arrested as the court had granted him bail. The police did not delay in this due to any political pressure, he said.
Some social activists have alleged that Minister Lakshmi Hebbalkara’s close aide is also involved in this. However, this is a lie told by the accused. At present, there is no evidence that Soman Gowda is involved. The Minister herself has instructed to investigate all this, SP said.
