MYSURU: At a time when the alleged scam in site allotment by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) is causing ripples in Karnataka politics with the Governor granting permission to prosecute Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the Lokayukta has issued notices to 18 MUDA officials for allegedly allotting 350 sites to “influential” people in 2017.
The notices, for dereliction of duty, have been served to the then MUDA superintending engineer, secretary, and others who were at the helm in 2017. The officials have been told to appear before the Mysuru Lokayukta police within three days.
RTI activist Gangaraju has lodged a complaint accusing Hinkal Panchayat president Krishnamade Gowda, secretary, and others of trespassing into Survey No. 89 in Vijaynagar Second Stage and taking over 7.18 acres, claiming that they developed sites measuring 25 x 25 ft without any permission and distributed them to shelterless poor.
He further alleged that the sites were allotted to BEML employees, teachers, panchayat development officers, post office and government press employees, panchayat presidents, vice-presidents and members. Gangaraju had later appealed to the MUDA and the Anti-Corruption Bureau. to take back the sites. The state government approved the registration of an FIR in 2017. Later, the case was transferred to Lokayukta in 2022 on charges that the officials failed in their duty to protect the property.
PANEL TO REVIEW OLD CASES TO HAVE 5 MINISTERS
The committee to review old cases that are at various stages of investigation will have four ministers as members with Home Minister G Parameshwara heading it. CM Siddaramaiah set up the committee on Tuesday. The four members are Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil, Revenue Minister Krishna Byregowda, RDPR Minister Priyank Kharge, and Labour Minister Santosh Lad. The committee has been directed to review pending cases, update the government and to coordinate with various departments. The committee has been directed to complete the task within two months and submit a report to CM Siddaramaiah.
CCTV cameras disappear from MUDA commissioner’s residence
Mysuru: CCTV cameras and a Digital Video Recorder (DVR), installed at the MUDA commissioner’s official residence in Mysuru, have gone missing. According to sources, the official residence of the MUDA commissioner had video evidence as it was considered to be the ‘home’ office, where sensitive meetings and decision were taken. Sources revealed that the missing hard drive contained video footage capturing the movement of people and documents in and out of the commissioner’s residence. This vanishing act has intensified suspicions of a cover-up to obstruct the investigation into the alleged illegal allocation of sites by MUDA. The missing DVR is believed to have captured critical footage of clandestine meetings, raising alarm about the removal of the surveillance system. Severed wires where the CCTV cameras were once located suggest that the equipment may have been deliberately dismantled to erase key evidence. With the investigation now at a crucial stage, the disappearance of vital evidence has cast a shadow over the entire MUDA scam, leading to heightened suspicion of a coordinated attempt to destroy proof of wrongdoing. ENS