C M Ibrahim accused of 'illegal' possession of land

Former corporator and BJP leader N R Ramesh has accused the State Planning Commission deputy chairperson C M Ibrahim of illegally possessing 19 acres and 33 guntas of land including six acres and 10 guntas of BBMP road at Nagawara, worth Rs 500 crore.

The land in question now has Hazrat Khwaja Khuthubuddin Bakhtiar Kaki (HKBK) College of Engineering owned by Ibrahim. Ramesh has even lodged a complaint with the BMTF and the Lokayukta.

Addressing a press meet on Tuesday, Ramesh said the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) had acquired 165 acres and 30 guntas from farmers for its Vyalikaval project in 1985 and had deposited the compensation amount.

Some farmers, who were unhappy with the land acquisition, knocked on the doors of court to get back their land. The matter later reached Supreme Court, which ruled that the farmers can get back their land if they returned the compensation within three months of the order.

However, none of the farmers deposited the amount, claimed Ramesh.
“Surprisingly, Ibrahim bought 13 acres and 23 guntas of land from eight farmers at a throwaway price. Two farmers, N Anjinappa and S Muniyappa have filed a civil and criminal case against Ibrahim for forcing them to sell off their land,” Ramesh said.

At the time of buying the property, the status of the buyer was C M Ibrahim, son of C M K Ali but using his political clout he pressured the Bengaluru North (additional) Taluk tahsildar to issue a khata in his favour with a different identity. The khata mentions him C M Ibrahim, Chairperson, Karnataka State Muslim Federation. “All the members in the Federation are Ibrahim's relatives,” said Ramesh.

Betterment charges
After the 13 acres and 23 guntas of land came under BBMP limits, the Palike officials issued ‘A’ khata in favour of Ibrahim without even collecting the development and betterment charges of more than Rs 10 crore.

He added that the Commissioner of Byatarayanapura Town Municipal Council had issued a show-cause notice to Ibrahim saying that the building housing the HKBK Engineering College was illegal and had directed him to raze the structure. On May 7, 2015, Ibrahim had moved a petition before the BBMP administrator seeking to register the khata of the property in the name of C M Ibrahim, Chairperson, Karnataka Muslim Federation. However, the Joint Commissioner of East Zone wrote to the BDA Commissioner Sham Bhatt on November 5, 2015 seeking documents related to the registration of the property.

Track record
Ramesh feared that the BDA could proceed to favour Ibrahim given its track record. In addition to 13 acres and 23 guntas, the HKBK Engineering College has also grabbed six acres and 10 guntas of road as the road has been brought within the compound of the college.

‘Will retire from politics if charges proved’
Reacting to the allegations, Ibrahim said: “I am the one who has come to Bengaluru by giving away my land to many farmers in my home village. If I am proved guilty of grabbing even an inch of land, I will retire from politics.

He said, “If I wanted land for my college, I could have obtained from the State government but I don't believe in getting favours in charity. That is the reason that I bought the land paying my hard-earned money in a legitimate manner to build the college. The college where 1,800 students study, is not my personal property but it belongs to an institution.”

Ibrahim alleged that Ramesh had tried to grab a playground adjacent to the college, but failed. “This irked him and he is leveling baseless allegations,” he said.