Haveri MLA, HUDA chief in land scam

In his complaint against the MLA, his son Manjunath N Olekar, daughter Lakshmi N Olekar, HUDA Commissioner K B Veerapur and Chairperson Girish Tuppada, Congress leader Erappa Lamani has accused Nehru Olekar of misusing his power to get a site allotted to his family’s unregistered education society.

Dr B R Ambedkar Education Institute at Shidenur of Byadagi taluk, which is run by Nehru Olekar as president and his son Manjunath as secretary, had submitted an application to HUDA for the land on survey number 22-A.

Application rejected

But the HUDA rejected the application to favour Ramabai Ambedkar Education Institute, to which Olekar’s daughter Lakshmi was secretary. The HUDA allotted the sites by its order dated December 29, 2008. But both the institutes were registered on April 22, 2010, Lamani alleged.

Erappa Lamani’s counsel G S Bajaj submitted before Judge K C Ramakrishnaiah: “Excluding the Lokayukta court in Bangalore, this is the first such case of land scam registered in a district court. We are yet to gather more information.”

As he sought time to submit documents, the judge adjourned the hearing to November 15.