Land mafia fabricates papers, tries to grab prime property in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: Revenue officials looking into a complaint have stumbled upon a mega scam in south Bengaluru’s Kengeri where the land mafia resurrected documents of dead people and with help from some unscrupulous officials, created records and illegally bifurcated about 40 acres valued at over Rs 600 crore.

According to official documents, survey number 69 of Kengeri, Bangalore South taluk, consists of 93 acres three guntas and has been classified as a gomala (grazing land). A part of the prime land has been leased to BGS Hospital while the realty boom in the surrounding area has led to skyrocketing land prices.

Land mafia has been trying to chip away at the land parcel over the last two decades. As recently as March 9, 2022, the Deputy Director of Land Revenue thwarted one such attempt by cancelling a tahsildar’s order creating a new survey number of five acres.

Last month, officials responding to complaints over land grabbing in the area were gheraoed by some persons who claimed the land belongs to them. However, they were not able to produce any records to show that they had been granted the land or were in possession of the land, which looked like abandoned gomala land with a rocky hillock.

An inquiry found that 25 podis (bifurcations) were made in May 2023 allocating 1.5 acres each to 25 persons. Each podi was assigned a new survey number, some of which include the rocky hillock, which is not cultivable in anyway.

“The land mafia and some officials have taken advantage of the missing documents in the files. Succession (‘Pouthi’) khatas were created to lay claim to the land. The grant records dating back to the 1980s show that 25 persons were granted land. The fact is none of them were in possession of the land till two weeks ago. Now, the land has been sold to a builder,” an official explained.

The move to create podis for 25 successors was red flagged in Dec 2020 by the Missing Files Committee. Led by the Deputy Commissioner, the committee has powers to build up missing records pertaining to grantees. But it decided not to take up the issue as crucial records were missing. 

“The assistant commissioner had expressed that it needs to be studied in detail. Officers were directed to place the matter again before the committee with all necessary records for a thorough examination. However, the matter was never placed before the committee and straight away podi (bifurcation) has taken place,” the interim inquiry report said.

A senior official said granting gomala land, let alone a hillock, is a complicated process involving a cattle survey to assess the ratio of grazing land.

“A rocky hillock is never granted simply because it is not cultivable. Such areas have their own biodiversity and are protected as rural commons,” the official explained.

Officials who visited the spot on April 23 photographed the land which looked like a barren hillock. However, by the time of the next visit on May 7, they were shocked see more than 15 excavators razing the area. “There is pressure against officials not to do their work. The team was not allowed to conduct the survey on May 7,” a source said.

To a question, Revenue Department Principal Secretary Rajender Kumar Kataria confirmed the development. “Prima facie, it appears that fake documents have been created to grab highly valuable government land.

Even if grants were made, they were not done as per the law. A committee was formed to probe the matter.

Notice was issued to the persons last month but they cited a village fair and sought a week’s time.

However, on May 6, some persons physically stopped our officials. A case has been registered with regard to the razing of the land,” he added.