Rs 500-cr realty scam: HC orders survey of sites

The High Court on Tuesday passed an order directing the deputy commissioner, Bengaluru Urban, court special officer P N Hedge and revenue department officials to conduct a survey of the sites allotted to the NRIs by land developer Joseph Chacko. Chacko is accused of cheating NRIs of over Rs 500 crore promising them residential sites in Bengaluru. The NRIs have approached the court.

Chacko on Tuesday informed the court that the sites which were allotted to the NRIs are still in place and that the same could be physically verified. Justice Anand Byrareddy passed an order to conduct the physical verification of the sites from October 8 to 16 and inform the court after the Dasara vacation. Hearing a batch of petitions filed by the NRIs, the judge disposed of 22 FIRs filed against Chacko after the complainants mutual settled the matter.

Chacko, an NRI himself is accused of duping hundreds of NRIs in the West Asia by selling them sites under bogus khathas from 1994 onwards.  He is accused of selling sites in more than 25 layouts in and around KR Puram. He has taken general power of attorney (GPA) from land owners and formed layouts illegally in greenbelt areas. Investors later learnt that the said layouts were not approved by the government and Chacko had cheated them. More than 200 complaints were registered against Chacko in various police stations in the city and the CID has filed charge sheets in 85 cases.