Battered by allegations of involvement in a series of land related scams, members of Chief Minister Yeddyurappa’s family have now been hit by claims that they received cash payments from a mining company for reasons not known.
The Chief Minister’s sons B Y Raghavendra, B Y Vijayendra and son-in-law R N Sohan Kumar –– have allegedly received Rs 20 crore from the Bellary-based South West Mining Limited. The money has been deposited into their bank accounts in three installments in August 2010.
As per the bank statements available to the media, Raghavendra, who is also member of the Lok Sabha from Shimoga, received Rs five crore on August 11, Rs 2.5 crore on August 25 and another Rs 2.5 crore on August 31 - totalling Rs 10 crore. The money was deposited in the Shikaripur branch of State Bank of Mysore.
Similarly, Vijayendra and Sohan Kumar received Rs five crore each in three installments on the same dates.
However, it is not known why the mining firm deposited such a huge sums in the bank accounts of Yeddyurappa’s family members.
A similar allegation of receiving Rs six crore from a different mining company has been made against Yeddyurappa’s family members. It was alleged that the mining firm paid the money after the Chief Minister sanctioned a mining lease to it in Maarikanive in Chitradurga district.
Reacting to the allegation, Raghavendra said the company deposited the money after buying a piece of land from him. “It (depositing money) has nothing to do with mining business nor any mining lease allotted to the company by the Government. We are not into the mining business.”
In a statement whose import he may not have realised, Raghavendra said: “If we had any interest in mining, the Government would not have banned the export of ore.”
JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy demanded that Raghavendra should disclose details of the plot he sold to the company. “People of the State would like to know whether the land sold by Raghavendra is his ancestral property or any denotified plot,” he stated.