BJP MLA seeks SIT probe into allocation of houses to displaced persons in Kogilu

Mangaluru City North MLA Y. Bharath Shetty has demanded that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the State government’s decision to allocate houses to families displaced in the demolition drive carried out in Kogilu Layout.

Speaking to reporters in Mangaluru on Wednesday, December 31, Dr. Shetty stated that those displaced were illegal occupants of land earmarked for solid waste dumping. He claimed that a majority of the occupants were from Bangladesh and Kerala. Furthermore, he accused Ministers B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan and Krishna Byre Gowda of permitting the illegal occupation of public land since 2023.

The government proceeded to vacate the occupants. However, following a diktat from the Congress High Command, the administration granted a one-time exemption and decided to allocate houses to the displaced families, he said. Dr. Shetty alleged this exemption was made to secure Muslim votes for the Congress party in the upcoming Kerala Assembly elections.

“We are not against the government allocating houses for displaced families in Kogilu Layout; we are raising our voices because these beneficiaries are not from Karnataka,” he said. He further noted that the government has yet to process applications under Sections 94C and 94CC of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act to regularise illegal occupation of government land in rural and urban areas.

Legal action

Asserting that the Revenue Department is the custodian of lands in the State, Dr. Shetty added, “The BJP party is contemplating legal recourse to challenge the decision to allocate these houses.”