It was an extortion bid on a regional transport officer (RTO) in Karnataka’s Tumakuru last month that led to the unravelling of an alleged racket involving insiders in the Lokayukta, the state’s anti-corruption ombudsman.The probe into the alleged extortion racket involving at least one high ranking police officer associated with the Lokayukta police unit in Karnataka has resulted in the arrest of a former police constable, who was a key operative of the racket, and the possible arrest of an IPS officer, who was working in the Karnataka Lokayukta’s Bengaluru unit until recently, for being a beneficiary.The chronology of events leading to the June 2 arrest of ‘dismissed’ police constable Ningappa Savant alias Police Ningappa, 45, reveals that it was an extortion bid on Tumakuru RTO A V Prasad on May 23 that brought the alleged extortion racket in the Karnataka Lokayukta to light.Also Read | Insider job suspected as Karnataka cop extorts money from govt officials by posing as Lokayukta officer, invests in cryptoOn May 23, Prasad filed a complaint with the Tumakuru police saying that he had received a call from an unidentified number from a caller claiming to be Vamsi Krishna, Superintendent of Police (SP) of the Bengaluru city Lokayukta unit, demanding ₹ 1 lakh to prevent a Lokayukta raid.According to the complaint, the caller told the RTO, “I am Vamsi Krishna, Lokayukta SP. After 10 minutes, the ADGP (of the Lokayukta police) will be speaking to you.” The RTO said that after a while, he received a second call where the caller said the Lokayukta was preparing to raid the RTO’s properties and that the raid would be cancelled “on payment of ₹ 1 lakh” through Google Pay.The RTO reported the matter to the Tumakuru police. The Lokayukta police, who were informed of the alleged extortion attempt, also swung into action, and the probe soon revealed that Ningappa was allegedly behind the calls.The Lokayukta police caught Ningappa and placed him under arrest on June 2. The subsequent investigation revealed that IPS officer Srinath Joshi, 53, who was also a Lokayukta SP for Bengaluru city, was allegedly closely linked to Ningappa and was a beneficiary of nearly ₹ 4 crore of funds amassed and stored in cryptocurrencies by the former police constable through the extortion racket.Story continues below this adMultiple extortion casesOver the last year, several extortion cases have been registered in Karnataka, where the names of top Lokayukta judicial and police officers were used.In December 2024, in a case registered at the Anekal police station in the Bengaluru Rural district, the Lokayukta deputy registrar for inquiries, Aravind N V, had filed a complaint of an extortion bid on Kariya Naik, the Anekal deputy tahsildar, using the name and caller ID of the Karnataka Upalokayukta Justice B Veerappa.On June 4, 2025, Harsha Naik, an assistant executive engineer of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), filed a complaint with the Malleswaram police in Bengaluru stating that she had received calls from a person with the caller ID of ‘KLA Rangaswamy B S Patil’ (Justice B S Patil is the Karnataka Lokayukta) demanding ₹ 1 lakh to clear corruption allegations against her name. The caller also allegedly claimed to be the Lokayukta ADGP in one call.An ex-cop targets excise officialsThe Lokayukta police probe so far has found that several “government officials have delivered thousands/lakhs of rupees in cash/Phone Pay to callers pretending to be fake Lokayukta officials” from the fear of anti-corruption police raids. The probe has also found that “the real officials (of the Lokayukta) were not the ones who threatened” government officials with anti-corruption raids.Story continues below this ad“It is learnt that a person named Ningappa made calls and sent messages to senior officials of the excise department’s Bangalore city divisions and some BBMP officials through WhatsApp, saying that there are complaints against them in the Lokayukta office. It is learnt that he is illegally collecting money by threatening,” a report of the Lokayukta police has stated.“Some of the previous extortion cases are not linked to Ningappa, although the modus operandi was exactly the same. Ningappa was primarily targeting excise officials,” a Lokayukta source said. Ningappa allegedly created a WhatsApp group of excise officials to supply information on Lokayukta activities, the source added.“The investigations into the case are in progress and the accused Ningappa @ Ningappa Savant has admitted that he has recovered money from various officials of the excise department for the last six months,” the Karnataka Lokayukta said in an official statement on June 17. Sources indicated that Ningappa had collected over ₹ 50 lakh from excise officials through extortion.“He has admitted that he has invested the money recovered in cryptocurrency in his own name and that of his relatives. His mobile was checked, and it was found that he had invested the money in about 13 crypto wallets,” the Lokayukta said.Story continues below this adNingappa is alleged to have amassed over ₹ 4.15 crore in cryptocurrencies through extortion activities.According to the Lokayukta probe, Ningappa frequently visited the Bengaluru Lokayukta office to meet some officials to allegedly collect information about officials of other departments to extort money from them.Also Read | IPS officer linked to Karnataka Lokayukta extortion case seeks anticipatory bail as new corruption probe expandsIPS officer Joshi was allegedly closely associated with Ningappa from his days as a superintendent of police in the Chitradurga district, Ningappa’s home district. Joshi allegedly introduced Ningappa to other police officials who worked in the Chitradurga region as well.On June 16, Joshi filed for anticipatory bail in a special court in the light of searches by the Lokayukta police on his properties and a summons for interrogation regarding his links to Ningappa and the alleged extortion racket. The bail plea is set to be heard on June 19 after the filing of objections by the Lokayukta police.