MLA duped of Rs 1 crore in land deal

Hosadurga constituency MLA Goolihatti D Shekhar has filed a complaint against three persons who duped him of Rs 1 crore, promising to sell 10 acres of land on the outskirts of the city. The incident occurred in June.

After Shekhar failed to get the money back, despite repeated attempts, he lodged a complaint with the Annapoorneshwarinagar police on Friday.

Based on the complaint, the police have registered an FIR against Narayana Reddy K M, his wife Bhagya and her mother Padmavathy.

The MLA, in his complaint, stated that he was into the granite business and wanted to set up a granite stockyard on the city outskirts.

In the first week of June, Reddy approached him, saying he wanted to sell a 10-acre land, which is in his wife’s name, at Kudlu village in Anekal.

After negotiations, the price was fixed at Rs 1 crore. Shekhar transferred Rs 50 lakh through RTGS and paid the remaining Rs 50 lakh in cash to Reddy. Reddy gave Shekhar an MoU, duly signed by Bhagya and Padmavathy, and even got the GPA issued to him.

The cheating came to light when Shekhar visited the land to plan the construction of the stockyard. To his shock, the neighbouring landlords informed him that the land belonged to the government.

Shekhar verified this with the authorities concerned and realised that the GPA and MoU were fake. He contacted Reddy, who promised to return the money.

But Reddy did not keep his word, which prompted the MLA to approach the police.