HASSAN/BENGALURU: In a major embarrassment to the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in the state, Congress Minister A Manju has alleged that family members of JD(S) supremo and Hassan MP H D Deve Gowda has encroached 54.29 acres of government land near Gowripura Somanahalli village in Hassan taluk.
The allegations come even as strife within the coalition is threatening the stability of the government. However in Bengaluru, Public Works Department Minister H D Revanna dismissed the allegations stating that Manju is free to file a complaint.
At a press conference in Hassan, Manju alleged that a former tahsildar illegally transferred 54.29 acres of government land near Gowripura Somanahalli to one Sannegowda and Giriyappa with bogus records. The revenue officials allegedly transferred the same land to Prajwal Revanna, who is the grandson of Deve Gowda, and to Kalamma, who is Deve Gowda’s mother-in-law, on September 19, 2014.
The bogus records also show Prajwal Revanna’s name and there is no clarity in the records that Kalamma and Prajwal had purchased the land from Sannegowda and Giriyappa, he alleged. Manju demanded that Deputy Commissioner Rohini Sindhuri conduct an inquiry into the scam.
Responding to the allegations, Minister Revanna dismissed them as baseless. “Several such allegations have been hurled at my family without any evidence. If he has proof, Manju can file a complaint with Lokayukta or any other investigating agency,” he added.