Kumaraswamy accuses Shivakumar family of illegal land purchases linked to BMIC project

Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has accused Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and his relatives of making illegal land purchases linked to the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor project.

Kumaraswamy released documents at a press conference in Bengaluru on September 29, saying the purchases involved Shivakumar, his brother D.K. Suresh and other family members. He alleged that the family held more than 150 acres of land notified for the project.

According to Kumaraswamy, such land could not be sold, bought or mortgaged. He also accused Shivakumar, who was Urban Development Minister and chairman of the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Area Planning Authority in 2004, of acting outside the project’s original framework agreement. Kumaraswamy said an Outline Development Plan increased land allocated for roads, interchanges and a toll plaza from 6,999 acres under the framework agreement to 9,488 acres.

He also alleged that the land allocated to five townships was changed without cabinet approval. He said the total land required for the road and township projects remained 20,193 acres despite the modifications. Kumaraswamy referred to observations by the Karnataka High Court that, he alleged, identified deviations from the framework agreement.

The Union minister also called for criminal action against NICE promoter Ashok Kheny and said he would mobilise farmers who had not received compensation. He promised to pursue judicial action against those he accused of fraud and deceit. Asked why he had not acted when he was chief minister from February 2006 to October 2007, Kumaraswamy said legal obstacles had existed then but had since been cleared by the High Court.

The source does not include a response from Shivakumar or the other people named.