Lokayukta files FIR against minister and son

Lokayukta files FIR against minister and son

In fresh embarrassment to the BJP government in Karnataka, corruption watchdog Lokayukta has filed another FIR against Minister for IT and BT, Katta Subrahmanya Naidu, his corporator-son Jagadish Naidu and their eight associates in a multi-crore land scam.

The charges against them include forgery, cheating, benami transactions, creating false documents, creating fictitious firms, among others, Lokayukta Santosh Hegde said.

The associates against whom FIR has been filed include companies where Subrahmanya Naidu and his son are partners.

Some more associates, including members of private firm and government officials, would also be included soon.

Hegde said there have also been instances of a company having entered into an MoU with other firms even before land was alloted to them.

One of the firms also paid Rs 87 crore to one Indu builders whose identity is being investigated. Lokayukta is also probing the role of other family members of Naidu.

In September, Jagadish Naidu was arrested while he was allegedly trying to influence a witness in a case pertaining to irregularities in payment of compensation to land owners by Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB).

The Yeddyurappa government is already facing land scam allegations including denotification of land and allotment of prime urban areas to the Chief Minister's family members who have however returned them after the charges surfaced.

Yeddyurappa was on the verge of losing his position at the height of the crisis triggered by the charges but managed to get a fresh lease of life after the party top brass decided to give him another chance.