Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday, November 21 said that no one will be protected in connection with the alleged corruption in the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA). He added that the BDA needed to be ‘cleaned up for once’.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had on Friday, November 19 raided the BDA office in Bengaluru. The ACB claimed that they had found irregularities by BDA officials during acquisition and allotment of land in residential layouts.
“We have said that our government will not allow any type of corruption, now ACB has also raided, what cases they will file and the report they will submit, also what permission they will seek from us (government) or recommend to us, we will accept or allow it without any hesitation. There is no question of protecting anyone,” Bommai said in response to a question on alleged corruption in the BDA while speaking to reporters in Bengaluru.
CM Bommai, who also holds charge of Bengaluru Development, had recently criticised the BDA in a review meeting. On Sunday, Bommai said there is no question of protecting anyone accused of corruption. “I had received complaints from the public on the BDA, also S R Vishwanath (MLA and BDA chairman) had brought few instances to my notice, I had asked concerned officials from the Urban Development Authority to inquire into it, now it has come to the notice of ACB also, and they have raided and the truth will come out,” the CM said.
“Whoever is guilty, however big they are, old or new, action will be taken against them. BDA has to be cleansed once and it has to be streamlined,” he said. “There are complaints that BDA has not been providing the service it has to, to the common people, so we are committed to clean it up for once,” he added.
A massive raid conducted by the ACB on Friday had unearthed corruption and irregularities in acquisition and allotment of land in residential layouts. The ACB’s raid came after a slew of complaints from the public that BDA staff members had asked for bribes and also indulged in corruption while allotting land. While it was not about any one complaint in particular, the ACB said in a press release that the raids were based on information of “widespread and large-scale irregularities” in the BDA.
The ACB claimed that it had found 13 instances of corruption. Most of these cases were linked to the allocation of alternative sites to compensate people whose land was taken over in Vishweshwaraya Layout, Anjanapura, Arkavathy Layout and Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout. The ACB also earmarked land allocation in Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout and Dr Shivaram Karanth Layout in Bengaluru.
The ACB said in one instance, a single person was allotted six sites worth Rs 75 crore in Vishweshwaraya Layout and Arkavathy Layout based on forged documents. The ACB said it found incriminating documents indicating corruption and irregularities in the BDA.