Karnataka - Bangalore   

Tackling the land mafia

The Chief Minister's statement is an indication that the new Government means business against the land mafia, writes K.V. Subramanya

THE NEW Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has apparently got his priorities right in addressing the law and order problems of Bangalore, where land mafia of the Mumbai-type has emerged in the recent years.

During his first meeting with senior officers of the Indian Police Service on February 4, Mr. Kumaraswamy said lower-rung police officials in Bangalore were having links with the land mafia. He directed the top brass to ensure that the policemen did not have any dealings with the land mafia. He also announced that police officers who have served for more than five years in the city will be moved out.

Senior police officials are of the view that the Chief Minister's statements would send a strong message, both to the land mafia and the police, that the new Government is serious on checking the land mafia.

The emergence of land mafia, following the real estate boom triggered by the Information Technology (IT) revolution, has changed the face of Bangalore's underworld in the past few years. The police say that with the land value in the city soaring, several underworld operators, as in Mumbai, have turned into real estate agents. Underworld elements have almost stopped indulging in the adulterated oil trade and extortion rackets. Most of them are now into real estate business.

Once the real estate boom set in, the underworld operators started dealing in lands in Whitefield, which has a concentration of IT companies. Now such elements are mainly dealing in property in East, South and North divisions of the city and in Bangalore Rural district. Their modus operandi is to threaten the owners, buy land from them at cheaper prices and sell them at higher prices, says a senior official.

Most of the underworld elements are into real estate business today. To ensure that their business interests do not clash, they have divided the areas among themselves, he remarks.

He says that in several cases, the anti-social elements have created fake documents and claimed ownership of property. The genuine owners had either sought the help of the police or sold the land to the gangsters at a throwaway price.

In certain cases, some police officials had allegedly connived with the land mafia and forced genuine owners to sell their property, he says. Some police officials in the city are themselves acting as real estate agents, he says.

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Tackling the land mafia

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