<p>The tentacles of the Khata mafia have spread so deep inside the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) that it did not even spare Commissioner M Lakshminarayana. <br /><br /></p>.<p>On Thursday, BJP’s Kacharakanahalli ward corporator Padmanabha Reddy showed how easily he could transfer a property in the name of Venkatamma, the commissioner’s mother, to his name.<br /><br />The BBMP council was stunned when Reddy revealed that the property was transferred from Venkatamma's name by paying a bribe of Rs 5,000. <br /><br />As proof, he claimed he was in possession of an A-Khata on the 7,000 sq ft property, bearing number 1085/2 in Subbayyanapalya, Banaswadi. He obtained the Khata despite government records clearly showing that the land was still in Venkatamma’s name. <br /><br />High drama was witnessed as Reddy charged in a lighter vein that the commissioner had taken his property for which he had been paying taxes for the last eight years. <br /><br />A quick investigation, however, by Palike’s revenue officials revealed that the Khata was fake as it did not have the nine digits and watermark. <br /><br />Reddy then revealed how the mafia worked: Three revenue officers in the Hebbal Division of BBMP East Zone had simplified the process of getting A-Khata by collecting a paltry Rs 100 per sq metre as development charge as against Rs 250 per sq metre. <br /><br />Reddy identified revenue officer Rathnamma, assistant revenue officer Nagabhushan and a revenue inspector as part of the A-Khata racket. <br /><br />The trio, Reddy said, had issued Khatas to many gullible people, including those whose properties were not even diverted for non-agriculture purposes. Reddy cited at least 10 instances with documents where these officers issued A-Khata. “Some documents show betterment charges were collected at Rs 100 per sq metre while in some others Rs 100 per sq yard. These charges were collected on small revenue sites even without bothering to check whether the land was diverted for non-residential purposes,” he said.<br /><br />Based on the revelation, the BBMP commissioner suspended the three officials.<br /><br /></p>
<p>The tentacles of the Khata mafia have spread so deep inside the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) that it did not even spare Commissioner M Lakshminarayana. <br /><br /></p>.<p>On Thursday, BJP’s Kacharakanahalli ward corporator Padmanabha Reddy showed how easily he could transfer a property in the name of Venkatamma, the commissioner’s mother, to his name.<br /><br />The BBMP council was stunned when Reddy revealed that the property was transferred from Venkatamma's name by paying a bribe of Rs 5,000. <br /><br />As proof, he claimed he was in possession of an A-Khata on the 7,000 sq ft property, bearing number 1085/2 in Subbayyanapalya, Banaswadi. He obtained the Khata despite government records clearly showing that the land was still in Venkatamma’s name. <br /><br />High drama was witnessed as Reddy charged in a lighter vein that the commissioner had taken his property for which he had been paying taxes for the last eight years. <br /><br />A quick investigation, however, by Palike’s revenue officials revealed that the Khata was fake as it did not have the nine digits and watermark. <br /><br />Reddy then revealed how the mafia worked: Three revenue officers in the Hebbal Division of BBMP East Zone had simplified the process of getting A-Khata by collecting a paltry Rs 100 per sq metre as development charge as against Rs 250 per sq metre. <br /><br />Reddy identified revenue officer Rathnamma, assistant revenue officer Nagabhushan and a revenue inspector as part of the A-Khata racket. <br /><br />The trio, Reddy said, had issued Khatas to many gullible people, including those whose properties were not even diverted for non-agriculture purposes. Reddy cited at least 10 instances with documents where these officers issued A-Khata. “Some documents show betterment charges were collected at Rs 100 per sq metre while in some others Rs 100 per sq yard. These charges were collected on small revenue sites even without bothering to check whether the land was diverted for non-residential purposes,” he said.<br /><br />Based on the revelation, the BBMP commissioner suspended the three officials.<br /><br /></p>