Whistle-blower’s crown of thorns
An activist who exposed a site allotment scam in BDA has been receiving death threats, ever since the man exposed a multi-crore alternative site scam in BDA, which resulted in the shunting out of BDA chief Shankarlinge Gowda, who had been appointed to the post by the then Kumaraswamy administration, during Governor’s rule has been receiving death threats from unidentified persons.
According to sources, B M Shivkumar, president of Akhil Karnataka Kannada Yuva Vedike, is fearing for his life as some brokers have started targeting him for his role in exposing the scam, following which the allotments concerned were cancelled.
The scam arose out of allottees in lesser-known BDA layouts surrendering their sites and getting alternative sites allotted in prime areas like HSR Layout, HAL and the IT corridor. The alternative allotments were obviously done in collusion with BDA officials.
Shivkumar claims he has details of more than 800 alternative sites which were illegally allotted. As a result of the expose, BDA commissioner Shankarlinge Gowda and BDA secretary G C Rajashekar were transferred from their respective posts.
Considered close to MLC M P Nadgouda, Shivkumar has demanded a CBI inquiry in the scam. The state assembly recently passed a resolution calling for an inquiry and report by the BDA commissioner within 90 days.
On Aug 15, around 1 pm, Shivkumar received a call warning him that he would be killed if he didn’t keep quiet. He contacted MLC Nadgouda and also spoke to home minister V S Acharya. The home minister has directed police commissioner Shankar Bidari to look into the case. However, when Shivkumar went to the Kengeri police station, in whose jurisdiction he resides, the staff refused to register his complaint, saying he had already registered a complaint in January this year.
According to BDA officials, a preliminary inquiry shows that 122 alternative sites were allotted fraudulently.
Allotments cancelled
BDA has already cancelled some of the illegal allotments. Among them is site 256/A in HSR Layout, 6th Sector, measuring 50 x 80, which was alternatively allotted to H Krishnappa. He had first purchased site L 203 in the same sector, which was allotted to former minister Amaregowda Bayyapura on June 20, 2005. The site was in a low-lying area and prone to waterlogging, andBayyapura applied for an alternative site, citing this fact.
BDA officials rejected his application on the ground that an alternative site can only be given when the original site is under litigation. Bayyapura later sold his site to Krishnappa on June 7, 2007. But Krishnappa got an alternative site (256/A) just 20 days later.
Other allotments cancelled by BDA are: site 842, located at Hennur-Bellary Road, 1st stage, Vth block; a site at Hosur-Sarjapur Road, sector two, site 898/A located at Indiranagar; site 13/A located at HSR Layout, Vth sector; site 109/A located at HSR Layout, VIth sector; site 1787 located at HSR IInd sector, and site 126 located at HSR Layout, 1st sector. According to sources, the last two sites were sold by forging the relevant documents.
According to sources, some brokers who are ‘regulars’ at the BDA office, as well as those whose allotments were cancelled, are behind the threats being made to Shivkumar.
Report by:
Atul Chaturvedi
According to sources, B M Shivkumar, president of Akhil Karnataka Kannada Yuva Vedike, is fearing for his life as some brokers have started targeting him for his role in exposing the scam, following which the allotments concerned were cancelled.
The scam arose out of allottees in lesser-known BDA layouts surrendering their sites and getting alternative sites allotted in prime areas like HSR Layout, HAL and the IT corridor. The alternative allotments were obviously done in collusion with BDA officials.
Shivkumar claims he has details of more than 800 alternative sites which were illegally allotted. As a result of the expose, BDA commissioner Shankarlinge Gowda and BDA secretary G C Rajashekar were transferred from their respective posts.
Considered close to MLC M P Nadgouda, Shivkumar has demanded a CBI inquiry in the scam. The state assembly recently passed a resolution calling for an inquiry and report by the BDA commissioner within 90 days.
On Aug 15, around 1 pm, Shivkumar received a call warning him that he would be killed if he didn’t keep quiet. He contacted MLC Nadgouda and also spoke to home minister V S Acharya. The home minister has directed police commissioner Shankar Bidari to look into the case. However, when Shivkumar went to the Kengeri police station, in whose jurisdiction he resides, the staff refused to register his complaint, saying he had already registered a complaint in January this year.
According to BDA officials, a preliminary inquiry shows that 122 alternative sites were allotted fraudulently.
Allotments cancelled
BDA has already cancelled some of the illegal allotments. Among them is site 256/A in HSR Layout, 6th Sector, measuring 50 x 80, which was alternatively allotted to H Krishnappa. He had first purchased site L 203 in the same sector, which was allotted to former minister Amaregowda Bayyapura on June 20, 2005. The site was in a low-lying area and prone to waterlogging, andBayyapura applied for an alternative site, citing this fact.
BDA officials rejected his application on the ground that an alternative site can only be given when the original site is under litigation. Bayyapura later sold his site to Krishnappa on June 7, 2007. But Krishnappa got an alternative site (256/A) just 20 days later.
Other allotments cancelled by BDA are: site 842, located at Hennur-Bellary Road, 1st stage, Vth block; a site at Hosur-Sarjapur Road, sector two, site 898/A located at Indiranagar; site 13/A located at HSR Layout, Vth sector; site 109/A located at HSR Layout, VIth sector; site 1787 located at HSR IInd sector, and site 126 located at HSR Layout, 1st sector. According to sources, the last two sites were sold by forging the relevant documents.
According to sources, some brokers who are ‘regulars’ at the BDA office, as well as those whose allotments were cancelled, are behind the threats being made to Shivkumar.
Report by:
Atul Chaturvedi
0 comments:
Post a Comment