BENGALURU: A few Bangalore Development Authority officials have given away sites in Arkavathy Layout for a throwaway price of Rs 59 per sqft, it has emerged. The market price is Rs 5,000 per sqft.
The officials, including a Deputy Secretary in the site allotment section, attempted to defraud the organisation by underpricing 34 sites in the layout. Fortunately, the scam was unearthed by the BDA Commissioner himself before the khatha papers were issued, and the authority just saved itself anywhere between Rs 10 crore and Rs 15 crore.
Confirming this to The New Indian Express, BDA Commissioner Rakesh Singh said he was personally tipped off about the scam by an individual early last month following which internal investigations were initiated. “We have finally got some concrete evidence against those involved only this week. The BDA task force has begun a full-fledged inquiry apart from filing a case against those involved in the High Court,” he said.
It appears that the scam had begun a long time ago, he added. “The sites were sold to the future owners at Rs 59 per sqft when they cost roughly around Rs 5,000 per sqft,” Singh said.
The sites were allotted allegedly in bulk by a clique of BDA staffers to a bogus group called ‘Trinity Flat Owners Association’. These staffers had planned to ‘sell’ 66 sites to different individuals but had managed to execute sale agreements for only 34 in B Narayanapura area within Arkavathy Layout when the fraud was unravelled.
“Such bulk sale of sites cannot be done without the approval of the commissioner. But the Deputy Secretary (IV), in connivance with a few staffers and buyers, violated the rule,” said a highly placed BDA source.
These were sites provided as alternative sites to those whose land holdings were acquired for the formation of the Arkavathy Layout in 2004-2005. Instead of providing 30x40 sqft sites, the clique offered the land losers 60x40 sqft in exchange. Two senior officials confirmed the fraud perpetrated on the BDA.
Individuals who have given up their land for layout development are usually provided sites in the developed layout at slightly lesser price than regular site buyers.
“The exact loss these staffers could have caused to BDA is still being estimated, but it could be around Rs 10-15 crore. Right now, their plan to sell all the 66 sites, which could have caused further loss, has been thwarted,” the BDA Commissioner added.
Another official added, “It goes without saying that the staffers have pocketed huge sums from the buyers.”
Two suspended in similar scam at Kethamaranahalli
This is the second scam involving officials of the site allotment section coming to light within a fortnight. On April 13, TNIE had exposed a similar scam in which three officials formed a nexus with buyers and sold four sites at Kethamarananahalli at a much lesser value which caused a loss of Rs 2 crore to the BDA. Following the report, two among those involved, supervisor V Mahadevamma and Senior Division Assistant T Bachegowda, have been placed under suspension.