JOIN USGupta’s transfer has come a day after two wild elephants strayed into Mysore, terrorising the citizens of the Palace city. One person lost his life in the incident.
But the reason for the transfer, it is said, is not Wednesday’s incident, but the manner in which he came down heavily on the real estate mafia. He had retrieved considerable extent of government land encroached by private developers. He had also got illegal places of worship demolished, as per the Supreme Court direction. It is an open secret in Mysore that many prominent politicians of all parties are into real estate business. District incharge minister SA Ramdas had no cordial relations with Gupta, who is known for his strict ways, sources said.
Gupta was posted as Mysore DC in May 2010. Before Mysore, he had served as the DC of Shimoga, Bellary and Bidar districts.
He served as Bellary DC for a brief period of 20 days, when the Bellary Reddy brothers had raised a banner of revolt against Chief Minister Yeddyurappa.
During his stint in iron-ore rich Bellary, he had collected a record Rs 20 crore as royalty from mining companies.
He was also credited with upgrading infrastructure in Bidar district as the DC. Sandhya Venugopal Sharma who was the Project Director of SSA has been transferred without posting.