Mangaluru, Nov 18: Harikrishna Bantwal, who recently formally joined BJP nearly two years after being expelled from Congress, on Friday lodged a complaint before Lokayukta P. Vishwanath Shetty here against B Ramanath Rai, Minister for Forests, Environment and Ecology and Dakshina Kannada in-charge.
In his complaint filed during a public hearing, Mr. Bantwal alleged that Mr. Rai has grabbed government land in his wife’s name in Mani village in Bantwal taluk and encroached upon government land in Kallige village in the same taluk.
Mr. Shetty asked Mr. Bantwal whether his complaint had any political motive. Denying it Mr. Bantwal told the Lokayukta that he has placed all documents relating to his complaint and the same should be investigated. The Lokayukta said that the complaint would be placed before the scrutiny officer in the office of Lokayuka.
It would be examined as per the due procedure. A decision on whether to register the case or not would be taken after verifying the merit of the complaint.
In his complaint, Mr. Bantwal said that Shyla R. Rai, wife of B Ramanath Rai, had applied for Akrama-Sakrama seeking grant of 2.04 acres of land in Survey No. 20/2 of Mani village, Bantwal taluk, in 1999. The same was granted to her in 2001 when Mr. Rai was Minister. The committee also allegedly granted her another one acre of land in Survey No. 38/2 in the same village without any application being filed.
The Minister, in his affidavit for the 2013 Assembly elections, declared that his wife Dhanabhagya Rai owns 3.04 acres of land in Survey Nos. 20/2 and 38/2 in Mani village, Bantwal taluk.
The application filed by Shyla R. Rai under Akrama Sakrama scheme also mentions her husband’s name as B. Ramanath Rai.
Mr. Bantwal alleged that the Minister used two names for his wife just to cover the fraud. He also alleged that Mr. Rai has encroached upon 10 acres of government land in Kallige village, very close to his residence, where he has cultivated rubber.
Meanwhile, the Minister denied the charge and said that the allegations are baseless. He maintained that the land in his possession has been legally obtained.
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