Four BDA officials accused of preparing illegal site allotment documents

The scam came to light after a raid on an office on Cunningham Road

Karnataka : Bengaluru : 02/11/2016 : Head office of the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) on Wednesday, 02 October 2016. Photo : V Sreenivasa Murthy

Four Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) officials, including a deputy secretary, are being questioned for their alleged role in an illegal site allotment scam. Their role came to light after the BDA Task Force and the police, on Friday afternoon, carried out a raid on a private office on Cunningham Road where illegal site allotment letters were being prepared.

According to officials, the raid took place at the office of Redhan – The Cinema People. Police investigating the case said they have detained the owner of the office, Inder Kumar, who was present at the time of the raid.

BDA Commissioner H.R. Mahadev told

The Hindu that the accused officials were planning to prepare site allotment documents for 123 sites in various layouts formed by the BDA. “They had already printed allotment letters for 60 sites. An entire team was involved in the scam,” he said, and identified the accused as Deputy Secretary Shive Gowda, tahsildar Kamalamma and clerks Sampath Kumar and Pavithra, who work in the TDR section of the BDA.

“We were alerted about this fraudulent practice. We kept a watch on the accused for 15 days with the help of the police before the office was raided. BDA documents required for issuing allotment letters, including maps, were seized,” said the Commissioner.

They accused reportedly prepared allotment letters for sites measuring 20x30, 30x40 and larger sizes in various layouts. The market value of each site ranges from ₹1 crore to ₹2 crore, said officials.

“I got information that the Deputy Secretary had collected ₹20 lakh per site. Prima facie, it is evident that they are involved in illegal deeds for monetary gain. The police investigation will reveal the details,” Mr. Mahadev added.

During the raid, officials found a letterhead of the BDA Commissioner. The police have also raided the residences of the officials.

“Action will be initiated against the accused officials based on the police investigation and a report will be submitted to the government,” Mr. Mahadev said.