He had demanded Rs. 3 lakh to approve a private layout; outsourced data entry operator too trapped

Mysore/Mysuru: Five days before his retirement, G.S. Jayasimha, Town Planner Member of Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), was trapped by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Police yesterday for taking a bribe from a developer to approve a private layout.

Jayasimha was to retire on May 31 and the State Government had appointed R. Shesha, for the post.

Along with Jayasimha, Nagendra, an outsourced employee who was doing a data entry operator’s job at MUDA, was also trapped. Jayasimha also served as Joint Director of City Planning.

Nagendra was caught for receiving the bribe on behalf of Jayasimha at about 12.35 pm.

Venugopal, a Bengaluru-based developer, had developed a private layout in Mysuru and he had applied for MUDA approval. Jayasimha and Nagendra allegedly demanded Rs. 3 lakh for layout approval and had already taken Rs. 1 lakh as bribe.

Venugopal had told the ACB sleuths that Jayasimha, through Nagendra, was pestering him for the remaining amount.

The ACB laid a trap and the officers were caught along with Rs. 50,000. The sleuths had caught Nagendra from the Town Planning section when he was heading towards the chamber where Jayasimha sat.

As proof of the bribe, Venugopal had submitted the audio conversation where the money was demanded and also the audio where it was confirmed that a payment of Rs. 1 lakh has been made. The mobile phones containing the audios have been seized. ACB Dy.SP Thammaiah led the raids and also involved fellow MUDA officers as witnesses.

The MUDA officers were dismayed to see the trapping incident as Jayasimha was caught just five days before his retirement. Recently, a verbal duel had broken out between Jayasimha and Venugopal regarding the layout approval.

The ACB sleuths produced both Jayasimha and Nagendra in front of a Magistrate last evening and have been sent to judicial custody. The ACB Inspector and seven other staff participated in the trapping operation.