B’lore varsity’s unfair lady

State Lokayukta sleuths, on Monday, caught a Bangalore University syndicate member red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs2 lakh from a private college. BU syndicate member and Local Inquiry Committee (LIC) chairman Jayalakshmi Devi was arrested, along with her son Alok A Vashista and a hotel receptionist, after the Lokayukta police received a complaint from AK Sridhar, the liason officer of the Pragun Jindal Education Institute.

According to Lokayukta police, Sridhar had lodged the complaint after the accused demanded a bribe of Rs2 lakh from him. According to the complaint, the institution had approached her for approval to start a degree college for BCA and BCom courses. Jayalakshmi visited the institute at Chikkabidarekallu in the city to check if it had all the facilities required and was qualified enough to start a degree college.

The complainant first met Jayalakshmi at her residence on May 13, along with his colleague Hayat Khan, and requested a letter giving permission. It was then that Jayalakshmi allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs5 lakh.

After bargaining for a while, the syndicate member settled for a bribe of Rs2 lakh and asked Sridhar to deliver the money in cash at SNT Comforts Hotel, opposite Upparpet police station at Majestic. Lokayukta ADGP Roopak Kumar Dutta said that when the team of sleuths reached the hotel, they realised that Jayalakshmi hadn't turned up. “Sridhar called her up, but the accused asked him to hand over the money to the hotel receptionist, Jayaramu. When her 22-year-old son, Vashista,

came to the hotel 15 minutes later to collect the cash, we nabbed him and the receptionist," Dutta said. After that, the Lokayukta officers went to Jayalakshmi's house, only to find her husband alone. “He said that Jayalakshmi would be back home by 9pm. We nabbed her soon after that,” the Lokayukta officer said.

The Lokayukta police are yet to investigate if the hotel receptionist was one of the conspirators or just an unsuspecting middleman. Police are also unsure if Vashista was aware of what was going on.

The three were produced before a special court, and then remanded to police custody for further investigation. Jayalakshmi, also a local BJP leader, is married to Ananth, a joint commissioner with the Excise Department. She also owned a gas agency in Kunigal taluk.  

Jayalakshmi effect

The BU Syndicate has cancelled affiliation for some colleges, which were recommended by the LIC for renewal, in a meeting on Tuesday.

After Y Sampangi, a government nominee on the BU academic council, was caught accepting a bribe of Rs5 lakh on Jan 29, she has become the second official in a row to land in the Lokayukta net