'Chief Minister's kin made benami land purchases'

Basha and Balaraj say payments were made through a single bank account

Sirajin Basha and K N Balaraj have stated that all the benami holders made the financial transactions through a single bank account in Bangalore. The complainants have named M Manjunath of Kumsi in Shimoga, his elder sister N Akkamahadevi, N S Mahalabaleshwara of Honnali, V Manjunath, V Prakash, V Anil Kumar and K Shivappa of Bangalore as the benami property holders. All of them have been made respondents in the petition.

On August 7, 2010, the Chief Minister denotified 2.05 acres of land in Arakere in Bangalore South taluk. The property is worth Rs 46.5 crore. Of the land, 1.07 acres, worth about Rs 25.39 crore was purchased by N Akkamahadevi and Mahabaleshwarappa.

V Prakash had obtained general power of attorney (GPA) of the land, the complaint states. In another case, the government denotified 1.07 acres of land Devarachikkanahalli in Bangalore South taluk on May 26, 2010. The land was originally acquired by BDA for AECS Layout in 1994. Of the land, 25 guntas were purchased by M Manjuanth and V Anil Kumar, both said to be close associates of the chief minister.

The complaint alleges that Anil Kumar is a close associate of Yeddyurappa’s son B Y Vijayendra.

On September 1, 2010, the Government denotified four acres in Geddalahalli, which was identified for Arkavathi layout. V Manjunath and K Shivappa purchased the land after it was denotified, the complainants have stated.

The petitioners alleged that the land purchases by the ‘benamis’ amounted to property worth Rs 88.48 crore, although they were not financially sound enough to invest so much money.

Moreover, Basha and Balaraj have cited the fact that all of them conducted the financial transactions through a single account in the Bangalore branch of the Bharat Co-operative Bank (Mumbai) as “a prime evidence” that supported their allegation.