Probe sought into Rs 10,000 crore BDA land scam

Activist S R Hiremath has accused the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Jagadish Shettar, Home Minister K J George and a host of officials of involvement in helping a GPA holder get the allotment of the land developed by the BDA illegally in lieu of 4 acres and 13 guntas of land, owned by Eranna, at Banaswadi, Bengaluru, which was acquired by the development authority in 1984.

In a press meet held here on Friday, Hiremath said the builder mafia had played a big role in it. Hence, the government should get the reported irregularities probed by an honest officer or by a retired or sitting judge, he urged.

Hiremath said the BDA commissioner, Principal Secretary of Urban Development department, Bengaluru-based Shoban Construction and Developers, V J Enterprises of Hubballi, GPA holder of the property G Nagaraj, B R S Kumar and witnesses Sampathlal Jain and M Dharmsingh among others were involved in the illegalities.

What’s more disturbing is the fact that BDA commissioner allotted land in lieu of the acquired land against the advice of additional advocate general (AAG) and the chief minister has remained silent on it, he said. GPA holder Nagaraj was allotted 1 acre and 3.81 guntas of land in Thanisandra which was sold to a builder with the help of Home Minister K J George and his brothers. Jagadish Shettar and his brothers played role in getting 1.3 acres of land at Rachenahalli allotted to the GPA holder and the said plot was sold to VJ Enterprises, Hiremath said.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should initiate probe into the reported illegalities and stay true to his words of giving a transparent and corrupt-free administration, Hiremath said.