Karnataka Government Probes Alleged Rs 80 Crore Land Scam in KG Thornahalli
The Karnataka government has established a high-level committee of senior revenue officials to investigate an alleged Rs 80-crore land scam in KG Thornahalli village, which is situated in the Malur taluk of Kolar district. The official inquiry was launched following serious allegations of large-scale forgery of revenue records and the subsequent illegal takeover of government property in the region.
The state government's decision to set up the investigative panel was announced just one day after former Malur MLA KS Manjunatha Gowda publicly raised the issue. The high-level probe will focus on the unauthorized acquisition of more than 16 acres of land that is alleged to belong to the government. The investigation will look into the actions of those involved in the suspected land transfer.
According to the detailed allegations brought forward by Gowda, the disputed property was clearly recorded as government land in official revenue records as early as the year 1961. However, the former legislator claimed that subsequent land documents were fabricated to falsely show that the property had been transferred to private individuals rather than remaining state property.
Specifically, Gowda alleged that the forged documents falsely indicated the land had been officially granted to a group of farmers on January 14, 1963. Following this alleged fabrication of revenue records, the property was later sold to a resident of Bengaluru.
The former MLA estimated that the current market value of the disputed 16-acre land parcel currently exceeds Rs 80 crore.
To support his allegations of fraud, Gowda submitted detailed documentation of the original revenue records to Tahsildar Roopa. He also highlighted that no official records exist for the land in the period starting from January 14, 1963.
The high-level committee, which consists of senior revenue officials, has been tasked with conducting a thorough investigation into the transaction history, the alleged forgery of official records, and how the state-owned property was illegally transferred to a private buyer.
