BENGALURU: “Holding a high position in Karnataka Lokayukta, how an IPS officer (Srinath Joshi Mahadev) was having contact with a head constable (Ningappa) and meeting him in his office constantly knowing fully well that he has been dismissed from the service for misconduct? How did he (Joshi) share the screenshots of investments made in cryptocurrency and crypto wallet with the accused Ningappa if he is innocent and not part of the conspiracy or has no nexus with him,” Lokayukta special court judge KM Radhakrishna asked the counsel for Joshi, who has been relieved as SP from the Lokayukta office.
The court shot off these posers while rejecting Joshi’s anticipatory bail petition after hearing the Lokayukta police, who sought custodial interrogation of Joshi to unearth the truth. The court said the allegations against Joshi are serious and larger public interest is involved in the case. The High Court has stayed further proceedings of this crime till June 30.
The prosecution argued that Joshi is accused of joining hands with Ningappa and conspiring with him to extract money from officials of various government departments. He was making phone calls to officials through Ningappa and illegally extracting money, threatening to raid them. He was investing the bribes in cryptocurrency wallets and Bitcoins with Ningappa’s help, they said.
Joshi’s counsel argued that just because Ningappa was his subordinate for two years while he was an SP in Chitradurga, there is an apprehension about his links with Ningappa, even though his name was not in the complaint or FIR. Joshi is innocent but has been falsely implicated in the case which will affect his promotion in August, the counsel alleged.
Except Ningappa’s blind statement about his association with Joshi, no materials were found against him but there is apprehension of Joshi’s arrest. Since he has been relieved from the Lokayukta and has reported to the parent department, there is no question of tampering with or threatening witnesses. If he is arrested by the Lokayukta police, Joshi’s service record will be impacted, he argued.
Manjunath Honnaiah Naik, Public Prosecutor, Karnataka Lokayukta, said Joshi had been in constant touch with Ningappa and there are call details records, CCTV footage of Lokayukta office and photos. Also Joshi had shared Whatsapp screenshots of cryptocurrency investments and crypto wallets with Ningappa, he argued.