BENGALURU: In a new twist to the case of denotification registered against state BJP president B.S. Yeddyurappa by officers of the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB), H. Basavarajendra, a KAS officer, also an accused, claimed on Saturday that some sleuths made up the charges to “fix” the former chief minister.
A deputy secretary of Mines, Investigation Cell, Mr Basavarajendra, has in a letter to Chief Secretary, Subhash Chandra Kuntia, alleged that he was made accused number two in the Shivaram Karanth Layout land denotification case because he refused to cooperate with these officers of ACB. The officer has sent a copy of his letter to Governor Vajubhai Vala as well.
In the letter dated August 19, a copy of which is with Deccan Chronicle, Mr Basavarajendra maintained he had not flouted rules while working as land acquisition officer in the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) between July 12, 2010, and September 11, 2011.
“I worked within the given rules and under the instructions of my superiors and the secretariat,” he insisted, however, claiming that he had received several calls on his mobile phone between August 6 and 10, 2017 from ACP Balraj, who said he was inquiring into the denotification of land in Shivaram Karanth layout and on meeting him later for a discussion was surprised when he began to dictate a letter to his secretary implicating Mr Yeddyurappa in the case.
Although he protested, he was warned about the consequences and told to fall in line. When he did not give in, he found himself made accused number two in the case, the officer alleged.
“I went and answered all the queries of police inspector, Manjunath of the ACB. Then again on August 10, 2017, I received a call from Balraj asking me to meet him in his office. I went to meet him and after a discussion of half an hour, Balraj gave a dictation to his secretary saying the denotification was done by the then Chief Minister, B.S. Yeddyurappa causing a loss of '2000 crore to the government. I intervened and said I did not know anything about this and had discharged my duties under the supervision and guidance of the Deputy Commissioner, land acquisition, who in turn took his orders from the secretariat. At that point, Mr Balraj along with Mr J.K. Anthony John said that either I should accept what was dictated as my statement or I would be made an accused. I was also told to make a statement before the magistrate under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code against the then Chief Minister. Mr Balraj also said that as I was due for promotion to the IAS cadre, I should agree with the statement prepared by him. I , however, refused and on the following Friday I received a notice from Mr Anthony Raj saying I had been made an accused in the case and should visit the ACB on Saturday to make a statement,” he alleged. Contending that both Mr Balraj and Mr Anthony Raj had tried to coerce him into making a statement against Mr Yeddyurappa and had foisted the case on him when he refused, he urged the Chief Secretary to look into the matter and protect his interest.
ACB denies allegation
Bengaluru: Denying allegations by Basavarajendra that he was allegedly threatened by two DySPs of the Anti-Corruption Bureau to make a statement against former chief minister B. S. Yeddyurappa in the alleged illegal denotification case, ACB chief, DGP M.N. Reddi, termed the allegations as "a feeble attempt to build false defence".
