Kumaraswamy questioned for over two hours in land denotification case by Lokayukta police 

Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy appeared before the Lokayukta police probing a land denotification case against him and was questioned for over two hours on Friday. Former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, who is the prime accused in the particular case, was questioned by the Lokayukta police on September 21 for over two-and-a-half hours. 

The case pertains to 1.1 acres of land at Gangenahalli in Bengaluru denotified by Mr. Yediyurappa when he was Chief Minister on June 5, 2010. Vimala, mother-in-law of Mr. Kumaraswamy held the general power of attorney (GPA) of the land and was the eventual beneficiary of denotification. Mr. Kumaraswamy and Ms. Vimala are also accused in the case.

‘Answered all questions’

Addressing media persons after coming out of the Lokayukta police office in the evening, Mr. Kumaraswamy said he had nothing to do with the case as he did not denotify the said land. “Some Ministers in this government have tried to target me in this case. But I have done nothing wrong and have made no wrong decisions when I was in power. So I have answered all the questions the officials posed to me,” he said.

Coming down heavily on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s statement that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was targeting Opposition parties in the country, Mr. Kumaraswamy asked what was the State government doing in this case. 

‘Showing personal interest‘

Sources in the Lokayukta police said Mr. Kumaraswamy is accused of showing personal interest in the application to denotify the said land the same day as the application was made when he was the Chief Minister in 2007. Days later Ms. Vimala gets the GPA of the land. A senior IAS officer during his regime has reportedly recorded his statement before a magistrate in the case. This statement is a key piece of evidence against Mr. Kumaraswamy, sources said.

Meanwhile, during his questioning in the case on September 21, Mr. Yediyurappa is said to have given a statement that there was no pressure from any quarters on him to denotify the said piece of land and claimed he denotified it as it belonged to farmers. This statement would help Mr. Kumaraswamy in the case, sources said.

Published - September 27, 2024 09:44 pm IST