Katta's firm had petrol bunk staff as directors

According to the Lokayukta investigation, Itasca MD Srinivas and United Telecom MD Basavapurnaiah together deposited Rs 87 crore to the bank account of Indu Developers in 2007.

Another startling fact is that Itasca, which got valuable land on the outskirts of Bangalore has a capital of only Rs one lakh. But the company owns 325 acres of industrial land near Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) valued at Rs 1,000 crore, now.

As the Industries Minister in 2007, Katta allegedly received Rs 87 crore from the firm to get the land sanctioned from the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB).

Violations

Investigation revealed that the KIADB and the company committed a series of violations in the entire transaction. In 2006, one S V Srinivas floated Itasca Software Development Private Limited with just Rs one lakh capital.

The company, located in Malleswaram, immediately filed an application in the Government, seeking permission to set up an IT SEZ in Jala hobli. It sought 325 acres land for this purpose. The company’s application was filed through Katta’s corporator-son Katta Jagadish.

Though the company had made tall claims of forming a SEZ and providing employment to hundreds of people, it had not disclosed any details about its financial strength.

However, the officials placed the application before the High Level Clearance Committee headed by the then chief minister H D Kumaraswamy.

The Committee approved the application, and the KIADB allotted the 325 acres land at Bandikodegehalli near BIA to the company in a few days.

Sale deed

Then, another company called United Telecom came forward to invest a Rs 350 crore in the Itasca’s SEZ project. Itasca took possession of the entire 325 acres land from the KIADB using the money invested by United Telecom.

Itasca had even made effort to sell off the land to a prestigious telecom firm, as it had illegally obtained the sale deed from the KIADB.

As per the rule book, the KIADB cannot issue the sale deed for any industrial land for a minimum eight years.