Karnataka Shocked as Clerk Earning ₹15,000 a Month Found to Own Assets Worth ₹30 Crore

What dreams does a person earning ₹15,000 a month dare to dream? Perhaps a small house, a bike, and good education for their children. While those dreams seem modest, reality in Karnataka’s Koppal district has defied all imagination.

Meet Kalakappa Nidagundi, a clerk at the Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited (KRIDL). Starting as a daily wage laborer before being appointed as a clerk, Kalakappa’s official salary was just ₹15,000 per month. But a recent raid by the Lokayukta (anti-corruption department) left officers shocked.

The officials uncovered a staggering wealth: 24 houses, 40 acres of agricultural land (enough to start a small village), four separate plots, 350 grams of gold, 1.5 kilograms of silver, and four luxury cars. In all, Kalakappa was found to own property and assets worth more than ₹30 crore.

The big question? How can a clerk with a ₹15,000 salary amass such a fortune? Was it a stroke of magic or something else?

Authorities believe the real story began with a massive corruption scandal. Kalakappa, along with former engineer J.M. Chincholkar, has been accused of a scam worth more than ₹72 crore. The alleged modus operandi was simple: create fake documents for public infrastructure projects—bridges, roads, buildings—on paper, but with no real construction taking place. Using these forged bills, they siphoned crores from government funds.

It is estimated that through 96 fake bills for non-existent projects, over ₹72 crore was embezzled, with Kalakappa building his ₹30 crore empire from the fraudulent earnings.

Authorities are now probing whether all of Kalakappa’s wealth was acquired during his service through corruption or if it was made after his tenure using such scams. Local MLA from Koppal stressed that the government is taking the case very seriously and that no guilty party will be spared.

The story of Kalakappa Nidagundi exposes the loopholes in the system, raising concerns over how many more such “crorepati clerks” might be hiding in plain sight within our institutions.