Bengaluru, Feb. 22 -- The Karnataka Lokayukta on Saturday caught Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Shirahatti MLA Dr Chandru Lamani red-handed while allegedly accepting a bribe from a contractor, officials said.

The MLA, along with his personal assistants Manjunath Valmiki and Gurunayak, was subsequently arrested and is being currently interrogated, they added.

According to officials, Lamani allegedly demanded a sum of Rs.11 lakh as commission from Class-1 contractor Vijay Poojar to award a Rs.1 crore roadside retaining wall construction project. Unwilling to pay the bribe, Poojar approached the Lokayukta and filed a formal complaint.

Officials said an audio recording had surfaced two days earlier in which Lamani was purportedly heard dem...