Union Minister of Heavy Industries H.D. Kumaraswamy on Wednesday alleged that the ongoing survey of his farmland in Kethaganahalli near Bidadi in Ramanagara district by the state revenue department officials was “politically motivated”.
The revenue officials surveyed 110 acres of land belonging to Kumaraswamy, his sister Anusuya Manjunath (wife of Bengaluru Rural MP and cardiologist Dr C.N. Manjunath) and his relative and former minister D.C. Thamanna, following the Karnataka High Court directions based on allegations of encroachment of government land.
Even as the court has ordered the state government to submit a report by February 21, the Siddaramaiah government constituted a five-member special investigation team (SIT) to look into the allegations of land grabbing by the former chief minister.
"I bought this land in 1984 with the money I had earned as a film distributor. But some people have had their eyes on this property and have been targeting me politically for the last 40 years. The Congress government is using the survey only to intimidate me,” alleged Kumaraswamy, sarcastically adding that modern SITs comprised IAS officers instead of IPS officers.
The SIT is headed by Bengaluru regional commissioner Amlan Aditya Biswas, while joint director, Survey, Settlement & Land Records, Nisar Ahmed, additional Bengaluru regional commissioner Islauddin Gaddyal and tahsildar Ganapati Shastri are members and tahsildar grade-2 Sheetal is the member-secretary.
It may be recalled that former Mandya MP G Madegowda had accused Kumaraswamy and Thammanna of land-grabbing in Kethaganahalli (survey numbers 8, 9, 10, 16 and 79). In August 2014, the Karnataka Lokayukta had ordered the recovery of the encroached government land if there were no records to prove the land was granted to private persons. In 2020, anti-graft activist S.R. Hiremath’s NGO - Samaja Parivarthana Samudaya filed a contempt of court petition stating the state government had failed to recover the encroached land even after giving an undertaking to high court (as directed by the Lokayukta). The high court directed the government to submit an action-taken report by February 21.
"They are investigating me since 2012 but found nothing. Unlike Siddaramaiah, I have not looted government land. All previous probes have yielded nothing illegal. So they have now formed an SIT under an IAS officer. Let them conduct any investigation, and hire international agencies to survey my land. They will find nothing illegal,” asserted Kumaraswamy.
Further, the JDS leader recalled that, in 1986, former MLA C.M. Lingappa and zilla panchayat member Ramachandra had written to the then Prime Minister and Home Minister regarding this land. “In their complaint, they mentioned that I had purchased the land—not encroached upon it. I have been engaged in farming on this land, not in any illegal activities. I have all the necessary documents to prove my ownership," said Kumaraswamy.
Meanwhile, Dr Manjunath lamented that some people were trying to tarnish his reputation by making false allegations. “They allege I have bought 71 acres of land. I have declared all my assets in my election affidavit for anyone to see. I have not purchased even an inch of land after getting elected as an MP.”