Bengaluru, 19 Jan

The Karnataka Lokayukta has received a formal complaint against Minister RB Timmapur over his alleged involvement in an excise bribery scandal.

The development follows the recent arrest of senior excise officials caught accepting a bribe of Rs 25 lakh.

Speaking to PTI on Sunday, the Minister rejected the allegations.

The complainant, Lakshminarayana, alleged that Excise Deputy Commissioner Jagadeesh Naik mentioned the Minister’s name in a leaked audio clip.

“Lakshminarayana has complained to the Minister alleging that Excise Deputy Commissioner Jagadeesh Naik mentioned his name in the audio clip which has become public,” a Lokayukta officer told PTI.

Lakshminarayana had applied for a CL-7 licence (Hotels and Boarding Houses) and a microbrewery permit, for which Naik and two others had allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 80 lakh.

The trio was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 25 lakh.

Meanwhile, the leader of the opposition in the Assembly and the Legislative Council, R Ashoka and Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, demanded the resignation of Timmapur.

At a press conference, they played the audio of Naik, in which he mentions the name of the Minister.

The BJP leaders alleged that Naik was referring to the Minister’s share of the bribe amount.

The Minister sought to know why he should be held accountable for someone misusing his name.

Minister Priyank Kharge on Monday dismissed the BJP’s demand for the resignation of Timmapur.