BENGALURU: Film producer and Bommanahalli ticket aspirant Umapathi Srinivas Gowda alleged that 25 acres of land worth over Rs 1,000 crore, belonging to Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA), was grabbed and converted into revenue sites and sold by land grabbers and even government officials.
Speaking to the media in the city on Thursday, Gowda alleged that in survey numbers from 27/1 to 29/35 and surrounding areas of Devarachikkanahalli, Begur hobli, in Bengaluru South taluk, BDA spent Rs 16 crore for layout formation 30 years ago.
He said some people approached the Karnataka High Court, challenging the BDA claims, but the HC ruled in BDA’s favour. The same people then approached the Supreme Court, where the HC verdict was upheld. “Despite the top court’s ruling, land grabbers colluding with BDA officials, produced fake documents and grabbed BDA land. They converted the property into revenue sites and made profits, while the original land allottees are left in the lurch,” Gowda alleged.
He said he was raising the issue, seeking justice for hundreds of owners who had approached him, and that it’s not a political stunt.
He also alleged that the grabbed sites were sold through real estate firms at a cost of Rs 12,000 per sqft. Gowda claimed the people involved are Ram Mohan, Sunitha B, Umesh and Muni Reddy. The matter was also raised in the Belagavi session and the CM is aware of it.
Interestingly, Muni Reddy is the father of Bommanahalli BJP MLA M Satish Reddy, and Ram Mohan, a former deputy mayor, is a confidant of the MLA, he pointed out. Gowda said he would file a public interest litigation in this regard. The allegations come weeks after RTI activist Hemanth Raju alleged that Umapathi Srinivas Gowda had illegally taken seven BDA sites at survey no. 11 of Begur hobli. “The land belongs to me as it is my ancestral property and I am the rightful owner,” Gowda justified.
GIFTS FOR MEDIA?
While Umapathi Srinivas Gowda was busy with the press conference, one of his followers was handing over envelopes filled with Rs 5,000 in cash as a gift to some reporters, camerapersons, and photographers, by taking them to a corner of the hall. Some mediapersons walked out immediately after the press conference.