Bengaluru: Karnataka State Information Commissioner Ravindra Gurunath Dhakappa was arrested on Thursday by Lokayukta police for allegedly accepting a ₹1 lakh bribe in exchange for delivering a favorable order, officials said.

The arrest followed a trap set after a complaint from RTI activist Saibanna Benakanhalli. According to the complaint, Dhakappa had demanded ₹3 lakh to remove Benakanhalli’s name from a blacklist. The activist had filed 107 petitions under the RTI Act seeking information from various government departments, which were pending before the Kalaburagi Bench of the State Information Commission.

However, they were later dismissed by the same bench and his name for blacklisted.

After negotiating the bribe amount, the accused received Rs 1 lakh through Phone pe, a senior officer said.

The accused has been taken into custody and arrested. Further investigation is in progress, he added. PTI