DH Exclusive | With official help, mafia tried to sell part of Yelahanka air base

Top officials, including an IAS officer, endorsed a forged document that enabled the land mafia to “sell” 10 acres of the Yelahanka air base.

The Karnataka government has approached the high court and sought a stay on the transfer of defence land to a private party.

The base was built in 1942 on leased land by the Italian prisoners of war. Three decades later, through a notification dated March 2, 1973, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) acquired 868 acres and 31 guntas in nine villages, including Hunasamaranahalli, Bangalore North (Additional) taluk (formerly Devanahalli taluk), to establish the current Air Force Station.

Documents show that Maheshwari, a resident of Krishnarajauram, “sold” a portion of the defence land for Rs 1.2 crore in 2007. The “sale” covered four acres and 23 guntas in Survey 175, one acre in Survey 176 and five acres in Survey 184.

Read | Yelahanka land surveyor caught taking Rs 5k bribe

Maheshwari claimed to have inherited the land -- 10 acres and 23 guntas in all -- from her father K Narayanaiah. She sold it to Ashwin M Thakker, a resident of Vasanthnagar.

Interestingly, on April 19, 2013, Padmavathi, wife of K Narayanaiah, executed another sale deed selling the same parcels of land to Latha S N and Mohammed Sanaullah for Rs 5 crore.

Collusion at the top

Senior officials, instead of thwarting the land grab attempts, accepted the claims of those trying to scam the defence authorities.

Mohammed Salahuddin, the then special deputy commissioner (Bangalore North sub-division), granted ownership of the land to Padmavathi on the basis of what the government describes as forged documents.

Padmavathi moved an application on December 3, 2009, before the tahsildar, claiming that the three parcels of land were granted to her husband Narayanaiah in 1965. The tahsildar endorsed her claim that the parcels had to be transferred to her, following Narayanaiah’s death in 1995.

IAS officer Salahuddin’s January 2016 order granting the land to Padmavathi forced the government to approach a court against its own official.

In its petition before the high court, the government has disputed his order as well as the report of the tahsildar of Bangalore North (Additional), who had endorsed Padmavathi’s claims.

Illegal order: govt

The government said the special deputy commissioner issued a “highly illegal, erroneous and unsustainable order” that granted defence land to a private party. His orders were based on documents “created and forged” by Padmavathi.

Moreover, the government said, the special deputy commissioner never checked the claims with the defence authorities. “(He)... has not taken any steps to hear the Defence Department in the matter before disposing the case,” it said, urging the high court to stay the transfer of land to Padmavathi.

The court ordered an interim stay on the transfer of land in October 2018. However, K N Chakrapani, former councillor and BJP leader, has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking an inquiry into the involvement of high-level officials.

“On the one hand, the case involves land worth over Rs 100 crore. But more importantly, it is a matter involving national security. Going by the documents, officials have colluded with the land mafia to grab land in a sensitive area. I have requested the formation of a special investigating team to ensure everyone involved in the case is brought to book,” he said.