Ashwin, Riyaz granted bail in extortion case

BENGALURU: The high court on Monday granted bail to Ashwin Y, son of former Lokayukta Y Bhaskar Rao, and other accused in the alleged extortion racket within the institution of Karnataka Lokayukta. Justice Rathnakala asked them to furnish a Rs 1-lakh bond, not to threaten witnesses and tamper with evidence. The petitioners have been asked to cooperate in the investigation.
The other accused who have been granted bail include suspended Lokayukta PRO Syed Riyaz, real estate agent Ashok Kumar and RTI activist Shankaregowda.All of them were in judicial custody for about one year.
Ashwin was on the run for three months before he was arrested in June 2015. He had sought bail, claiming he has been in judicial custody since July 2015 and chargesheets had been filed in these cases after completion of investigations.
In a related development, former Lokayukta Justice Y Bhaskar Rao, moved the high court challenging the inclusion of his name in the additional chargesheet. Justice Rao has been named as an accused in the additional chargesheet after the governor gave consent for his prosecution.