Lokayukta indicts official

The Lokayukta, which investigated the allegations of irregularities in land acquisition by the Karnataka Housing Board in Dharwad, has held the KHB executive engineer guilty of misusing his position for self gain.

Former corporator Iresh Anachatageri had lodged a complaint with the Lokayukta seeking a probe into the alleged scam. The Upa Lokayukta, in his order, has held KHB executive engineer Vijaykumar Kakkaiah guilty of misuse of power and has recommended disciplinary action against him. The Upa Lokayukta has also said the recovery of money from the officer to make the loss to the government exchequer good.

The then DGP of CID, D V Guruprasad, in his letter dated December 30, 2010, to the deputy registrar, enquries-1, Karnataka Lok Ayukta Bangalore, has stated that the KHB executive engineer (Hubli division) Vijaykumar Kakkaiah had connived with middlemen in acquiring land for the KHB from farmers which had resulted in a loss of revenue to the government to the tune of Rs 4.5 crore besides loss to farmers.

 

Former corporator Iresh Anchatageri and others had petitioned Karnataka Lok Ayukta seeking inquiry into the land acquisition in survey number 7-49 in Hiremalligawad village of Dharwad taluk alleging irregularities. He complained that the KHB official had purchased the land from middlemen instead of buying them directly from the farmers who owned the land.

Anchatagri had also alleged that the KHB official did not informed the farmers of the price decided by the District Land Purchase Committee headed by the deputy commissioner and had also not invited the farmers to the meeting where the price was fixed at Rs 5.75 lakh per acre.

The KHB had notified acquisition of 3,000 acres in Hiremalligawad. The CID report said the middlemen had in connivance with the KHB official managed to get the power of attorney from farmers after paying them Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh per acre and then sold the same land to the KHB for Rs 5.75 lakh per acre. “Thus the farmers have been deprived of their due share,” the CID report had said. It said, of the 206 acres and six guntas (40 guntas make up 1 acre) purchased at Hiremalligawad and three other villages, 84 acres and 21 guntas had been purchased from middlemen.

The allegation was that the KHB executive engineer did not publish details of land acquisition in local newspapers while he leaked the information to the middlemen enabling them to purchase the landôget general power of attorney for the sale of land much before the actual acquisition process started.

The CID report says that the probe had confirmed this allegation. MP Prahlad Joshi, who had taken up the issue with the Lok Ayukta, held discussions with farmers whose lands have been acquired following the CID report. He had tried to convince the farmers that each land loser would be given a site measuring 33x33 ft for each acre of land acquired. However, the farmers had rejected this proposal and demanded additional compensation in cash.