Karnataka IPS tapes: ‘Ahmed Patel said I will make him commissioner, Revanna will support’

Bengaluru Commissioner Bhaskar Rao is under the scanner for allegedly trying to get himself the job through a power broker close to Congress.

Bhaskar Rao, Commissioner of Police, Bangalore City | Twitter

Bengaluru: Leaked audio clips aired by News18 Kannada have put Bengaluru Police commissioner Bhaskar Rao under the scanner.

In the unverified clips, which were supposedly recorded six months ago, Rao was purportedly speaking to a power broker named Faraz to get himself appointed the commissioner through a Congress pull, instead of Alok Kumar, who was being favoured by then-CM H.D. Kumaraswamy despite being the junior-most ADGP-rank officer.

Here is the full transcript of the clips, which have also turned up the heat on the new B.S. Yediyurappa-headed BJP government in Karnataka:

CLIP 1

Faraz: Sir, I have been to Delhi in the morning. Ahmed Sahab could not come
yesterday because he fell sick. Venugopal is in Bangalore…Ahmed is in a
meeting with Bhupinder Hooda. Once he finishes that meeting I
will meet him and directly tell him.

Rao: Excellent, excellent… CM is going back to Delhi tomorrow.

Faraz: Tomorrow we will meet with Rahul ji. Mauka hai, whichever is the
best option, we will see.

Rao: Will he come to meet AP (Ahmed Patel) sahab?

Faraz: My thing is that AP sahab in another two days will be in Bengaluru to
process the expansion jo ho raha hai…all that will be decided together.
Bulva doonga.

CLIP 2

Rao: Sorry I missed your call, Faraz.

Faraz: No problem, sir. Maine baat ki sahab se, and explained to him everything
in detail from Venugopal asking you to contest, from you going to Kaushal
Vidhyarthi, to your plans for Seva Dal and everything. I told him that he
wanted to resign and take over and come into the organisation very subtly.
Maine bhi advise kiya and others also advised that he has more years of
service… Maine saara explain kiya aur maine kaha ki Priyanka ji ko milne
ka time lein kya. Unka mood accha tha aaj aur Kumaraswamy ka aana… probably
they may meet Rahul ji. I told them about this…commissioner ka…Agar ek
saal woh reh jayenge, sarkar girti bhi hai to apna ek aadmi hai Rajeevan. He
knows everything… he knows mudda kya hai… these miscellaneous talks… He
first asked me why did you come… you should have stayed there in Bengaluru… Venugopal is there. I just had to lie to him that…nahi kuch kaam tha aur aa gaya…kal chala jaoonga wapas.

He (Ahmed Patel) is in very good books of his (Kumaraswamy’s) father (H.D.
Deve Gowda)… I told him (Ahmed Patel) agar aap halke se bol denge toh
oblige kar denge...mana nahi karenge aapko. Toh he said theek hai main bol
doonga…This is not the right time…do teen din guzarne do…Because if
they say teen chaar din…then it will become from four-five days to eight
days, tab tak Hamada yahan kisiko commit kar diya toh problem ho
jayega… That’s why I told him that sir, abhi woh change karne wale hain… He
(Kumaraswamy) is selecting the candidate… He (Ahmed Patel) said ek kaam
karo, Venugopal ko bol dena bolne ke liye that na kare, aur mera naam le ke bol
dena. Unhone kaha mera naam leke bol dena. Main jhooth toh nahi bol
sakta Venugopal ko. Now with confidence I can say that Ahmed sahab ne kaha
hai aap Kumaraswamy ko bol dijiye ki abhi select na kare. Maine kaha theek
hai sir, main bol deta hoon. Bas utni baat sunni thi mujhe, kal subah aake
Venugopal ko suna deta hoon yeh baat.

Rao: Tab toh bahut lambi baat hui hai…

Faraz: Haan sir, lamba baat hua sir, I was with him since evening… Toh
abhi roza saath main khol diye… Then I told him this… Yeh badi baat hai
sir. Chaar paanch din yeh baat kholna sahi nahi hoga, where there are other
issues going on, me telling him will not be nice. That is when I told him
that chaar-paanch din main select kar denge kisiko….commit kar denge.

Rao: Chaar-paanch din matlab…aaj se…

Faraz: Venugopal ji ko bol do woh Kumaraswamy ji ko bol denge.

Rao: Achha…that’s very good.

CLIP 3

Faraz: I am in AICC sir. Madam has come to AICC after a very long time. I am
finishing up from here sir, I am wrapping up. I will call you in the next ten
minutes sir.

Rao: Main ek DGP ke meeting main jaake… Shall I call you at 12.30?

Faraz: Done, sir. I will be done in the next ten minutes sir. You call me
sir, I will be done by then.

Rao: 12.30?

Faraz: Done, sir. Madam actually has come to AICC after many years for a
meeting, so she had a meeting for all the office-bearers.

Rao: Senior Madam?

Faraz: Haan. Senior madam. Unki meeting thi… (unclear)

Rao: Oh that’s why, yesterday also it was very late night for you…

Faraz: Yes sir, woh Pondicherry ke CM aa gaye the, main batata hoon aapko,
everything went positive.

Rao: Isko positive karana hi hai, apne haath main lena hi hai…because sab
kuch unke haath main jaa raha hai.

Faraz: Kal main uske paas gaya sir, I went inside and explained to him
everything, jo jo possible hai… I had already briefed him, and for the
second time, I explained to him how Venugopal ji considered you for Bengaluru
South and that you are a Congressman at heart… How you wanted to put your
papers down and join the party and how I myself suggested to you that
this is not the time sir. Let one year pass by. He (Ahmed Patel) showed me
a thumbs-up, maane physically unhone thumbs-up dikhaya and he said… beta,
commissioner of police banoonga unko. These were his words. Narayanaswamy
wait kar rahe they…Pondicherry ke CM… I said I will take his leave
… Kuch nahi sir, Ahmed Patel ka itna bolna is a very big thing.

Rao: Great! This is great.

Faraz: I have to go to him today… And I will speak to elaborately because
the Pondicherry CM was waiting… thumbs-up dikhaaye aur chaar mahine baad
hundred per cent banaoonga bolne ke liye aur CM ke saath coordinate karne ke
liye bol doonga…

Rao: Chaar mahine ke baad ka argument aap lo hi mat, kyunki chaar mahine
baad nobody can be removed for one year. That fellow (Alok Kumar) will go to
court because government of India regulations are very, very strict. Anybody
posted in an executive post cannot be removed for one year. Don’t take that
argument at all. First of all that fellow is a very, very junior fellow. Four
years junior. Cadre ka baaja baj jayega. We need a lot of unrest…

Faraz: Other ADGPs will also have unrest.

Rao: Yeah…Sarkaar ki faltu badnaami hogi and this fellow has more
allegations. Isi aadmi ke upar mein yeh CM allegation kiya tha lottery ka
paisa khaaya karke…Inquiry chal raha hai abhi…CBI ka inquiry chal
kar raha hai abhi… He can’t even do that…and zabardasti karke it will only
be an embarrassment to the entire coalition government.

Faraz: CBI inquiry is still in progress, sir?

Rao: Haan. CBI has not yet closed it. Iske upar CBI inquiry chal raha
hai. Agar woh bole hamara khaas aadmi Alok Kumar hai…arre, uske upar
toh CBI inquiry chal raha, aur kyon fajiti kar rahe hain boldenge toh baat
khatam ho jayega wahin par. Moreover, kya hai na saara posting unka hi
hai, ek aadmi bolo jo Congress ka ho?

Faraz: Nobody, sir.

Rao: You are sitting in majority, boss.

Faraz: And whoever they wanted, Revanna played spoilsport everywhere.

Rao: Haan, ismein fortunately I have got both Revanna and big man’s (Deve Gowda)
support also. Yehi (Kumaraswamy) hai jo hai iske (Alok Kumar) peeche laga hua
hai. Aur kuch nahin hai. AP sahab bol diye toh 100 per cent ho jayega… yeh keh
dein ki tumhare bahut log hain, hamara aadmi ko rakho.