Congress leader and MLC V.S. Ugrappa on Tuesday demanded a CID or Lokayukta probe into the alleged involvement of Leader of the Opposition Jagadish Shettar in the purchase of disputed land in Gandhinagar in the city.
Addressing presspersons here, Mr. Ugrappa alleged that in 2012, Mr. Shettar, the then chief minister, had obtained the Cabinet’s approval to purchase land to construct a building for the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) at Rs 63.55 crore. The land belonged to the Murugha Math, which has its headquarters in Chitradurga, he alleged.
“This loss to the exchequer should be recovered and the Government should order a suitable probe – either by Lokayukta or CID – into this scam,” he said.
Refuting the BJP’s counter allegation that the Congress had taken up this issue because Mr. Shettar had alleged that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was involved in the land denotification scam in Arkavathy Layout in Bangalore, Mr. Ugrappa said the land was purchased despite a civil dispute pending in the court in this regard.
(The Hindu)
