Sriramulu accused of grabbing land with fabricated documents

June 17, 2013 03:28 am | Updated June 07, 2016 08:09 am IST - BELLARY:

A view of the land in Bellary, grabbed allegedly by the former MinisterB. Sriramulu.

A view of the land in Bellary, grabbed allegedly by the former MinisterB. Sriramulu.

After the former Minister G. Janardhan Reddy’s arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the charge that he was involved in illegal mining, now his close associate and former Minister B. Sriramulu has been accused of grabbing land with the help of fabricated documents.

D. Vishweshwar Bhat, Principal District and Session Judge, has, on a private complaint filed by G. Krishnamurthy, a senior citizen from Tilak Nagar here, ordered a probe by the Lokayukta police against Mr. Sriramulu.

Mr. Krishnamurthy, who, among several others, has lost his residential site, has accused Mr. Sriramulu and five officials, including Shivappa, then Deputy Commissioner, Venkatesh, then Assistant Commissioner, and Shashidar Bagali, then Tahsildar, of allegedly manipulating records and forcibly acquiring land (residential sites) belonging to him and others which they had purchased in 1992.

According to Mr. Krishnamurthy, Akula Lakshmamma owned 27.25 acres of land in Survey No 597/B. Of this, 10 acres of land was acquired by the government for construction of the Tungabhadra high level canal.

The remaining land was purchased by Parmeshwar Reddy, father-in-law of Mr.. Janardhan Reddy, for a consideration of Rs. 2 lakh per acre on October 24, 2002, who gifted it to his daughter, G. Lakshmi Aruna (wife of Mr. Janardhan Reddy).

The complaint alleged that Ms. Lakshmamma and her family members then entered into an agreement on October 24, 2002 to sell the same piece of land (27.25 acres) to Mr. Sriramulu in Survey No 597/B for a consideration of Rs. 10,000 per acre.

Mr. Sriramulu then filed a suit in court in 2003 for specific performance of contract. As Ms. Lakshmamma and her family members remained ex-parte , a decree was passed on April 8, 2003.

Mr. Sriramulu again filed an execution petition in 2009 seeking enforcement of the decree and obtained sale deed from the court allegedly showing different boundaries.

Later, the revenue authorities, who had passed an order of conversion for the land sold in favour of Mr. Parmeshwar Reddy, once again passed conversion order in favour of Mr. Sriramulu, who was then holding the post of Cabinet Minister.

“Though 17.25 acres of land of the 27.25 acres has been standing in the name of Mr. Parmeshwar Reddy and 10 acres acquired by the government, Mr. Sriramulu furnished a false and fabricated boundary, asserted his power, abused his office, ‘purchased revenue officials’ and thereafter got the order of mutation and conversion,” the complainant allege.

Mr. Krishnamurthy has, in his complaint, said that the property held by Ms. Lakshmamma was on the western side of the canal while the land held by him and others fell on the eastern side of the canal and charged Mr. Sriramulu with trespassing into the area on the Bellary-Hospet Road (eastern side) and putting up a compound wall around it in 2009.

“Our appeal to the Revenue and Police did not fetch any result on account of the influence Mr. Sriramulu wielded on the officials. After the construction of the compound wall, Mr. Sriramulu, with the help of his men, razed the structures and evicted the residents in that area without giving any compensation,” he alleged.

The Principal District and Sessions Judge said that there was a need for a thorough investigation by a competent authority and referred the complaint to Police Inspector, Karnataka Lokayukta, Bellary, to investigate the case and submit a report on August 26, 2013.

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