The Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) has sought information from the State government on the whys and wherefores of transfer of top brass of the Lokayukta police — Additional Director General of Police Jeevan Kumar Gaonkar and Deputy Inspector General Pranab Mohanty — at a time when they were supervising the probe against former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and his kin.
Official sources said the CEC has written to the government seeking a slew of details, five months after Mr Gaonkar and Mr Mohanty were replaced by Mr H.N. Satyanarayana Rao and Mr Arun Chakravarthy, respectively. They include: reasons for such hasty transfer, whether the top cops were shifted in consultation with the Lokayukta, and whether the transfers were effected following pressure from politicians in view of the fact that they were overseeing investigation into high-profile cases.
The CEC also sought a confirmation on whether Mr Chakravarthy himself was under investigation by the Lokayukta police, the sources told Deccan Chronicle. The sources said the CEC could probably use these details to authenticate the fact that top cops were transferred to derail the process of investigation into cases registered against Mr Yeddyurappa and his kin. The transfer of Mr Gaonkar and Mr Mohanty had triggered vociferous protests with former Lokayukta Justice N. Santosh Hegde alleging that it was an attempt to “sabotage” the probe against the former chief minister and his family. While Mr Gaonkar was posted out as ADGP (administration), Mr Mohanty was appointed Joint Commissioner (Crime) in Bengaluru.