Revenue inspector, shirestedar 'help' builder gobble up gomala land

The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) has continued the crackdown on revenue officials who illegally hand over government land to private individuals in connivance with real estate developers.

On Wednesday, the ACB conducted simultaneous raids on the residences of two revenue officials and a builder.

The ACB raided revenue inspector B K Asha’s residence in Health Layout, Annapoorneshwari Nagar, shirestedar Prasad P S R’s residences in Vijayanagar and in Tumakuru district and builder K V Naidu’s residence in Dollars Colony.

The raids came after the ACB registered a case on the basis of a complaint by a resident of Doddabettahalli. According to the complaint, some government officials had misused their powers and allotted gomala (pasture land) in Chikkabettahalli to certain individuals. The land allotment happened in spite of the fact that farmers have been tilling the land since 1968. What’s more, papers that show the land belongs to the state government have gone missing from the tahsildar’s office, according to the complaint.

The complaint further stated that even though the matter over the land ownership is pending adjudication in a court, some officials from the Yelahanka taluk office connived with certain individuals to forged documents transferring the ownership to them. This resulted in a loss of crores of rupees to the government, the complaint stated.

The ACB found the involvement of revenue inspector Asha and shirestedar Prasad, and raided their residences. A senior officer said that the search was still ongoing and that they had found some “important documents” and valuables. The details of the items and properties seized will be disclosed once the raids get over, the officer added.