'Big names are involved in Karnataka land scam'

With the Bellary mining scam case already with the Lokayukta, sleuths at the anti-corruption watchdog have, now, netted a new catch. Though it is not as big as the mining scam, Lokayukta has confirmed the involvement of some bigwigs in the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) scam.

The irregularities took place during the distribution of compensation, after the government acquired over 3,255 acres of land in Devanahalli taluk. Justice N Santosh Hegde, speaking to DNA, admitted that the scam which runs into crores of rupees, does have big names, but refused to comment on them right now.

What is the KIADB land scam all about?
During an enquiry over a previous raid, a police officer was taken as a witness. Following the details provided by him, we found out huge irregularities in the documents pertaining to KIADB land and unearthed the scam, running into crores of rupees. A lot of misappropriation was found in the disbursement of compensation after the land was acquired.

The government had acquired it in Devanahalli Taluk for raising an aerospace, and hardware and IT parks. The scam has been happening since 2005, but came to light only now. We have registered a case against the special land acquisition officers, while five of theirs residences and offices were raided.

What is the modus operandi of the scam?
We found various methods of cheating in this case. Some of the dead persons have also been compensated, stating they are alive. In some cases, even those, whose lands were not included in the acquisition list, were compensated. The amount was about Rs65 to Rs75 lakh an acre. Also, fake documents were created, which showed the government land as acquired and the compensation given only to a random section of the people. In some cases, more than one person has been the beneficiary for the same land.

Who are the officials involved?
The officers, who have been raided, include Anil Kumar, T V Muninarayanappa, Chikkabettaiah, NR Nagaraj and HS Radhakrishna, all former special land acquisition officers at the Gandhinagar office. Others are Shankaraiah, Kenchaiah, N Lakshmi, Byre Gowda, Nagabhushan, Siddaiah, Ramachandra and Appanna. Officials of the revenue department and some individuals have also been named as accused. We have also taken into custody a middleman, Santhosh, who was helping people in availing compensation.

Are there any big names involved in this scam?
Right now, I wouldn’t like to comment on this, as the investigation is in progress. One cannot rule out the fact that the scam is so large, that it cannot happen without their involvement. But I don’t want to name anybody at the moment.