Cong turns more heat on BJP govt, seeks Lokayukta probe

State BJP President K S Eshwarappa, Energy Minister Shobha Karandlaje, Home and Transport Minister R Ashoka, Major and Medium Industries Minister Murugesh R Nirani, Katta Subramanya Naidu (who resigned as Minister today), MLAs S N Krishnaiah Shetty, Hemachandra Sagar and M P Kumaraswamy and MLC Bharathi Shetty were others who figured in the complaint list.

It also named some officers of the personal establishment of the office of the Chief Minister, Bangalore Development Authority, Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB), Department of Mines and Geology, Department of Stamps and Registration and Department of Forest.

The complaint was lodged by Congress leaders V S Ugrappa, B L Shankar and Appaji alias Channabasavaraj Shankar Rao Nadagowda on behalf of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee.

The Congress submitted papers relating to denotification of land by KIADB and allotment of sites by BDA flouting norms, among others, and demanded a Lokayukta probe into the alleged scams contending that those who figured in the complaint list have not shown these assets in their annual declarations filed before Lokayukta and thus suppressed their income and wealth.

Ugrappa later told reporters that the Congress urged Lokayukta N Santosh Hegde to investigate the allegations, find out the loss caused to the state exchequer, the persons responsible for these "illegal acts and omissions" and to initiate action against them including criminal prosecution.

Hegde told the Congress leaders that he would consider initiating an inquiry once the High Court passes an order on a PIL, which sought a direction on who should investigate the land scam cases -- Lokayukta or the Justice B Padmaraj Commission.

Asked about the extent of land involved in the scams and their value, Ugrappa declined comment, saying it's a matter of investigation but added: "On the face of it, if you take the (illegal) denotification of thousand of acres in and around, the loss to the state exchequer is thousands of crores of rupees".