Politicians, middlemen, mafia in Rs 2 lakh crore Karnataka wakf land scam

By Rizwan Khatik - Wed Mar 28, 2:04 pm

Bangalore: A Karnataka government-appointed committee which surveyed wakf board lands in the state has stumbled upon a multicrore scandal. The estimated loss to the exchequer is likely to be around Rs 2 lakh crore, according to panel member Anwar Manippady. 

Manippady, who also heads the Karnataka State Minorities Commission, on Monday submitted a 7,000-page report on the scam to chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda. “The report may be tabled in the assembly in a day or two.

Many middlemen, land mafia and politicians are involved in the scam,” Manippady told reporters. The chief minister said: “I am amazed that the wakf land scam runs into Rs 2 lakh crore. We’ll take this forward and ensure all the encroached lands are reclaimed. We’ll not spare anyone.”

The committee established that major irregularities took place between 2001 and 2012 in the transfer of government land to private parties through mutation.

What happened

*Lands belonging to wakfs transferred to private individuals and institutions.

*Out of 33,741 wakf board properties, at least 22,000 acres misused – 85% of these in Bangalore.

*Wakf board functionaries helped in selling land to the influential and the powerful.

*Most of the irregularities happened between 2001 and 2012.

Times of India