A Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) contractor, who claimed to be close to Chief Minister Siddaramiah, allegedly threatened a senior BBMP officer on Thursday.
The contractor, G Krishnamurthy, was recently elected as one of the directors of the Bangalore Mahanagara Kuruba Association. On Thursday afternoon, Krishnamurthy entered BBMP Additional Commissioner (Finance) D Kiran’s chamber and demanded that his pending bills be cleared.
Kiran, an Indian Revenue Service Officer, tried to convince the contractor but there was a verbal exchange between the two.
The contractor allegedly threatened Kiran and even told him that he had the capacity to get him transferred within an hour.
Speaking to Express, BBMP Commissioner M Lakshminarayana said they have registered a case against the contractor at Halasuru Gate police station for using abusive words and also
obstructing a government official from discharging his duty.
However, when contacted, the Halasuru Gate police inspector said they have not registered any such complaint.
The Palike Commissioner said the BBMP has to pay around `2,000 crore to various contractors towards pending bills. “We are paying them as and when funds are generated. We are aware of their plight. But they (contractors) should have patience. It is not a good practice to barge into an officer’s chamber and demand to be paid the bills for three months,” he said.
Mayor B S Sathyanarayana said, “We have not paid contractors’ bills for many months and now Ayudha Pooja is round the corner. Obviously, contractors demand payment. We need to understand their plight.”
Krishnamurthy was not available for a comment.