ED expands search for records at Taluk Office

Mysuru: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) teams, which raided the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) office yesterday morning over the contentious allotment of 14 sites to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife, B.M. Parvathi, expanded their investigation to include Mysuru Taluk Tahsildar’s office at Mini Vidhana Soudha in Nazarbad.

Heavily armed personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) accompanied the ED teams during these raids. After examining records and conducting initial questioning at the MUDA office, the teams proceeded to the Taluk Office at 11.30 am, intensifying their investigation.

ED officers zeroed in on the Revenue Section, where they seized crucial documents related to land transactions in Kesare and Devanur 1st Stage. They took control of the records managed by the caseworker responsible for handling land allotment procedures.

Upon their arrival, Tahsildar Mahesh Kumar, along with Shirastedars and Revenue Inspectors, immediately led the officials to the office’s conference hall. Files requested by the ED were promptly retrieved from the record room, as directed by the officers.

At the heart of the probe is a plot of land registered in the name of the Chief Minister’s wife, Parvathi. The ED’s inquiry centres on several critical questions regarding the land deal, such as the identity of the original owners, whether all heirs had personally signed the sale deed, and the timing and legality of the land’s conversion from agricultural to non-agricultural use. Other key questions included how the land was denotified after being acquired by MUDA and whether the proper alienation process was followed.

The ED also scrutinised the land’s status at the time of its purchase by Parvathi, investigating why compensation was not provided when MUDA utilised the land for residential purposes. Further, they probed whether the land was appropriately marked in MUDA’s RTC records and whether it fell under the Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prohibition of Transfer of Certain Lands) Act, 1978.

Concerns were also raised about revenue inspectors allegedly providing favourable reports for land conversion without conducting thorough inspections. The ED demanded answers to all these questions, supported by land records and related documentation.

The ED teams, who remained on-site throughout the day, also seized records from the Sub-Registrar’s office pertaining to the sale deeds. As more documents are uncovered, the investigation is expected to deepen, potentially unearthing one of Karnataka’s most significant land corruption scandals in recent memory.