Prime accused in TDR scam arrested

Krishna Lal, the prime accused in the transferable development rights (TDR) scam, was arrested by Anti-Corruption Bureau on Tuesday. Lal was serving as a BBMP assistant engineer in the Mahadevapura zone when the multi-crore scam was unearthed.

Lal, who is accused number one in the first TDR scam case filed by ACB, was on the run for the past six months.

Speaking to DH, M Chandra Sekhar, IGP, Anti-Corruption Bureau said Lal was nabbed at Koramangala in the city. “We had inputs that he will be visiting Koramangala. Our officials picked him up near an apartment complex when he arrived there,” he said.

Lal had applied for anticipatory bail after ACB officials raided his house on April 26. However, the Lokayukta court cancelled his bail plea after the ACB argued that Lal was not co-operating with the investigation and had failed to appear before the officials probing the scam.

Soon after the bail was cancelled, Lal went absconding, hindering the probe. Sources in the ACB told DH that they were on the lookout for the accused. Though multiple teams were sent to nab the accused, he managed to evade arrest.

According to a release by ACB, Lal had concealed the identity of owners of Survey No. 9 at Kowdenahalli village. Using documents pertaining to properties in Survey No. 10, Lal inflated the TDR available for the site and distributed it to private parties. In this connection, the first case in the TDR scam was registered by ACB.

He is also accused of hiding a total of 47 TDR documents, using which TDR worth crores was allegedly sold to real estate firms. The ACB is also searching for these documents to assess the extent of losses suffered due to the scam.