Rs 2-lakh cr' land scam rocks Wakf Board in Karnataka

Bangalore - 28 March 2012 (DHNS): Minorities' panel 'implicates' politicians, IAS and KAS officers; chief fears for life.

Misuse and encroachment of Wakf properties in the State have caused a whopping Rs two-lakh crore loss to the exchequer, dwarfing the 2G spectrum scam, the Karnataka State Minorities Commission claimed on Monday.

The Commission has 'implicated' almost all senior Muslim political leaders - most of them belonging to the Congress party - besides 'indicting' senior IAS, IPS and KAS officers.

The Commission has blamed politicians, including Union Minister Mallikarjun Kharge, MPs Dharam Singh and K Rehman Khan; MLA?R Roshan Baig, former Union minister C K Jaffer Sharief, Iqbal Ansari, M S Ansari (late), Azeez Sait (late), Hindasgeri; MLAs Tanveer Sait, N A Haris, Qamrul Islam; former MPs Suryavamshi, Iqbal Ahmed Saradgi, among others, for the loss. It recommended that the Centre amend the Wakf Act 1995 so that "persons who have misused, encroached upon and illegally occupied Wakf properties are banned from contesting elections/ nominations, including to Wakf institutions and Board".

It has also recommended criminal proceedings against those involved in the scam, and superseding of the Wakf Board by the government.

The Commission, which took up its study on the subject in Bidar district in November last year, submitted the 7,000-odd page report to Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda on Monday. The report is titled 'Study on the misuse and encroachment of Wakf properties in Bidar district'.

Gowda said the government would ensure that the properties are recovered and the guilty punished.

Karnataka Minorities Commission chairperson Anwar Manipaddy demanded that the report be placed before the Legislature.

The total encroached land in Bidar is 1,803 acres (of 2,586 acres). Of the total estate value of Wakf properties worth Rs 410 lakh crore, properties worth Rs 2 lakh crore have been either encroached on or sold illegally. There are a total 33,741 registered properties in the State in 54,000 acres.

The Commission, which conducted its study in other districts, also including Gulbarga, Bangalore Urban, Bangalore Rural, Ramanagaram and Koppal, has alleged misuse of properties, encroachments, illegal disposal, mismanagement and fraudulent acts committed by erstwhile heads of the Wakf Board, elected representatives, politicians and others.

Manipaddy said his life was under threat. "I received threats from various quarters. The present Wakf Board chairperson Syed Riyaz Ahmed, who is absconding, too threatened me. In January, he offered me a bribe of Rs 4 crore."