Amid the controversy over land for Jesus statue atop Kapala Betta in Kanakapura taluk, the state government has transferred Kanakapura tahsildar Anandaiah. The order was issued on Monday night.
While Anandaiah has not been shown any place, Yelandur tahsildar Varsha is posted to Kanakapura. She is yet to assume office.
Acting on the directions of the state government, Anandaiah and Assistant Commissioner Dakshayani visited the hill last week for a spot inspection. The report was expected to be submitted in a few days. Anandaiah had been working in Kanakapura, albeit in various posts, for a decade.
Meanwhile, the work on the statue has come to a halt after spot inspection by the officials. Police personnel had been deployed at the spot. The office-bearers of Kapala Betta Development Trust said that the work had been temporarily suspended in the wake of recent developments.
Several people, including Rishikumara Swami of Kali Mutt visited the hill on Tuesday. The seer said that ‘Kapala’ implies ‘Shiva’ and therefore, the place should be a hill of Shiva. “It is not right to allow erection of Jesus statue here. We will launch a protest if the work is allowed to progress further,” he said.
On the other hand, environmentalists have opposed granting gomala (grazing land) to the trust. Achchalu Shivaraju, a local social activist said that lands such as gomala cannot be allotted to private persons or trust as per the revised orders issued by the Revenue department in 2007.