Touts, BBMP officials snare land owners

The lure of lucre has been driving gullible property owners to illegally obtain fake A khatas, a scam  rampant in the newly-added areas of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

The A khata scam that has come out in the open in Bommanahalli zone, is the result of a vicious nexus between  corrupt officials and touts, who make B khata property owners fall into the trap willingly or unwittingly.

The offer touts make is irresistible to property owners: Price of their properties will double once B khata is (illegally) converted into A khata. For instance, cost of a 30x40 sq ft B khata plot in Bommanahalli which cost, say Rs 50 lakh, will double to Rs 1 crore in the property market once it becomes A khata property.

Properties with B khata (they are called so because they are recorded in the B register of the BBMP for the sake of keeping an account of property tax collection) are illegally formed without obtaining necessary approvals from various government agencies.  Normally, B khata properties are formed without converting the land use from agriculture to non-agriculture or without obtaining approval for the layout plan from the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA). Whereas, A khata or A register properties would have received all necessary legal clearances.

According to official sources in the BBMP, touts offer a complete package deal to the B khata property owners – from getting fake A khata from the BBMP to finally selling the property at a lucrative price.

For a 30/40 sq ft plot, the deal is for anywhere between Rs 8 to 10 lakh – again, cost of the deal varies depending on the nature of violation involved while forming the B khata plot. Normally, touts charge more if a property is formed without land use conversion (also called DC conversion in common parlance).