'3,000 acres of land allotted to undeserving'

At least 3,000 acres of government land was allotted to people who had no bonafide eligibility in and around Bangalore under Bagair Hukum land allotment scheme, outgoing Additional Director General of Police of the Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF), Dr R P Sharma said.

Addressing media on Friday, Sharma said maximum allotment happened in Bangalore South, especially in Uttarahalli between 1999 and 2002. When asked who heads the Bagair Hukum land grant committees, Sharma said MLAs, tahsildars and some others were part of such committees.

Regarding the progress in the case against the then deputy chief minister R Ashoka, the then Bangalore mayor D Venkatesh Murthy and Murthy's wife K Prabha for bogus allotment of eight acres of land under the scheme, Sharma said the High Court had granted stay and government has to get it vacated, so that it could be pursued further.

Ashoka as the chairperson of the land grant committee was  accused of fraudulently allotting four acres of land each to the Murthys in Somanahalli under Uttarahalli Hobli of Bangalore South Taluk in 2004.

Regarding the BMTF's failure to protect lakes and other government lands, Sharma said the notices to the encroachers should be issued by the revenue department. Once the notices are served there is no timeframe set for getting replies in the existing system. This is preventing the BMTF from acting against encroachers. He said that so far the BMTF had registered 63 cases this year. Sharma added that since 2012, the BMTF had recovered government properties worth Rs 158 crore.