After Anurag Tewari's death, KAS officer alleges harassment, files complaint

K Mathai, a KAS officer has made similar allegations against IAS officers earlier.

With talks of scam, harassment making the rounds around Karnataka cadre IAS officer Anurag Tewari's death, a KAS officer has alleged harassment by seniors. Senior Karnataka Administrative Service K Mathai approached the Lokayukta on Wednesday with his grievances. He is currently the administrative officer-cum-under secretary to government, DPAR (AR) SAKALA Mission.

Mathai who shot to fame for the crackdown on billboard mafia in the Bengaluru civic body, BBMP, has claimed that he has been fighting for justice for years now. The officer has accused senior bureaucrats Ramana Reddy, Dr Kalpana, Dr T K Anil Kumar and Laxminarayana of harassment. Mathai has claimed that he has been hounded by senior officials for years for being honest and upright.

Mathai highlighted that proposals were made for his suspension in 2012 but was rejected by the Karnataka legislative assembly. He deemed this arm-twisting strategy of seniors. He claimed that he was transferred repeatedly while serving as MUDA Commissioner of Mandya in 2014 and Assistant Commissioner (Advt) in BBMP in 2016. Curtailing increment, adverse remarks in Annual Confidential Reports, delayed promotion, modification of Chief Minister's orders, Mathai claimed, were means of harassment meted out to him by his seniors. "The basic problem that honest officers face today is the lack of a grievance redressal authority and accountability commission because of which senior IAS officers are never taken to task," Mathai said.

He has demanded that IAS officials should give an account of the work they do too on a daily basis. Mathai said that he had been targeted on multiple occasions. Mathai was attacked by sand mining mafia during his stint as tahsildar in Hassan. Miscreants had torched his residence to deter him from taking stringent action. When he was the Commissioner of Mandya Urban Development Authority (MUDA), in 2013, Mathai submitted four reports regarding large-scale illegalities amounting to Rs 300 crore in allotment of sites by the MUDA. Based on that detailed report, the state government had handed over the case to the CBI in 2014.

OneIndia News