Lokayukta police start probe against BSY

BANGALORE: The Lokayukta police have started their investigation against former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and started collecting documents from various departments.A senior police officer of the Lokayukta said the police were clearly following the directions of the Lokayukta Special Court. They have already written letters to Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Ltd and Water Resource Ministry to get the documents of tender of the Phase II of Upper Bhadra Lift Irrigation Project in Chitradurga district, in which Yeddyurappa faces corruption charges.An officer said they were also planning to seek Yeddyurappa’s reply in writing over the charges. The Lokayukta police might seek the version of the bidder of the project, Murudushwara Power Corporation, RNS Infrastructure of RN Shetty and also the family members of Yeddyurappa, who are the members of Dhavalagiri Developers and Sahyadri Healthcare, sources added.A Lokayukta police officer said, “The investigation is at the initial stage. We are correlating the documents now.As the investigation goes on, we might think of adding other persons as accused and adding Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections,” he added.The complainant, Y S V Datta, alleged that the project, was given to the highest bidder, Murudeshwar Power Corporation, a subsidiary of RNS Infrastructure. The bid was `1,033 crore, contrary to the norms.Later, RNS Infrastructure allegedly transferred `13 crore to firms owned by Yeddyurappa’s family members like Dhavalagiri Developers and Sahyadri Healthcare.