Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda.
Credit: DH File Photo
Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda on Thursday asserted that the revenue department had adopted a ‘practical and serious’ approach towards dealing with officials who help land grabbers in the state.
After a meeting, Gowda told reporters that the government would not only initiate departmental inquiry, but also start filing criminal cases against such officials.
“We have already filed two separate criminal cases against an assistant commissioner for helping land grabbers. The department has filed a criminal case against Yelahanka tahsildar Raghumurthy for helping encroachers,” he explained.
“This shows our no-nonsense policy towards land grabbers and those who help them. In Raghumuthy’s case, the deputy commissioner had indicted him in 2020 for his involvement in helping private land grabbers by creating fake documents, but he had continued in the same post under the previous government,” he said.
The minister said that the present government had filed criminal cases against such corrupt officials to send a clear message that corruption won’t be tolerated any more.
The minister pointed out that the government was aware of “some officials” colluding with land grabbers to help them in creating fake documents, but such cases would be taken up as and when they come to light.
“At least 10 encroachment cases have come to my notice through various sources and all these are being probed,” he said.
Gowda said during last week’s meeting of DCs, the chief minister instructed that details of all government properties must be codified, documented and registered in a proper manner.
“Every panchayat development officer (PDO) must document government land and forward it to respective circle offices. The PDO must inspect government land and file a report once in three months,” he said.