BENGALURU: A search conducted by the Lokayukta police on warrants issued by Upa Lokayukta Justice B Veerappa has revealed that officials in Nagamangala taluk of Mandya district have allegedly forged, tampered with and fabricated documents to transfer around 320 acres of government land, worth Rs 200 crore, to private persons on the pretext of allotment of land under Bagair Hukum Committee (BHC).
Acting on a tip-off about the racket involved in usurping the Gomal land, the Upa Lokayukta issued warrants on Tuesday to conduct the searches in seven places, including the residences of the persons involved, the government guest house, a hotel and the taluk office in Nagamangala – the assembly segment represented by Agriculture Minister N Cheluvarayaswamy.
Following a complaint filed by the Lokayukta police after finding incriminating materials in the possession of the accused officials, the Nagamangala police registered a First Information Report (FIR) citing criminal conspiracy, cheating, dishonesty, tampering, fraudulently using forged documents, theft and criminal breach of trust.
Subsequently, they arrested five officials – second division assistants Satish H V and Gurumurthy, shirastedars Ravishankara and Umesh and Darakastu village assistant S Yogesh – of the land records branch of the taluk office.
“The act of the officials shocks the consciousness of this authority,” said Upa Lokayukta Justice Veerappa.
A statement from the Lokayukta office said that prima facie, it was found that the accused fabricated documents, such as Saguvali Chit, grant ledger and other records in Darakastu land and records section to usurp the Gomal land in HN Kavalu, Chikkajataka, Doddajataka, Karadahalli and a few other villages in Nagamangala taluk for unlawful gain.
Applications seeking grant of land were found in the car belonging to village assistant Yogesh. When the Lokayukta police, headed by Superintendent of Police Suresh Babu, questioned Yogesh, he revealed that records room staffers Yogesh, Vijay Kumar, Satish and Yashavanth and deed writer Chinnaswamy were diverting government land since 2020.
The seized records disclosed that the entries in the land grant ledger have been tampered with to add new names. The BHC can grant a maximum of 4 acres and 38 guntas of land to each family or beneficiary. However, 9 acres 27 guntas of land was allotted to one Prakrul Khan and 11 acres 23 guntas to one Kaleem Mulla. However, these entries are not found in the original records kept in the records room, where the search was conducted.