The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : ‘Political interests aiding land grab’

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Sunday, Dec 02, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

‘Political interests aiding land grab’

Special Correspondent

Ramaswamy dares V.S. Ugrappa to prove charge

Says behaviour of politicians will embolden land mafia
‘It is wrong to give everything a political colour’

Bangalore: It is unfortunate that politicians, who have never demanded action against encroachers of government land exposed by the Joint Legislature Committee, are now behaving in a manner that encourages land grabbers, said A.T. Ramaswamy, former chairperson of the panel.

Addressing presspersons here on Saturday, Mr. Ramaswamy hit out at Congress leader V.S. Ugrappa who had confronted him at Vidhana Soudha on Friday evening and accused him of witch hunting Congress leaders and tampering with the documents related to the panel’s findings.

He said: “The findings of the committee had turned the heat on land grabbers. The action of Mr. Ugrappa and others will only embolden them all over again.”

He challenged them to either prove that the panel members had tampered with documents or stand exposed before the people. “It is wrong to give everything a political colour to conceal the truth,” he said.

Responding to Mr. Ugrappa’s accusation that he had no business to be at the Vidhana Soudha after office hours when he was no longer the MLA, Mr. Ramaswamy said he was aware of his status and was well within his rights to enter the public office. It was his responsibility to ensure that all documents the panel had painstakingly procured over the last one-and-a-half years were secure, he said.

“The details of encroachments were given by departments and they have all the original copies. How can we tamper with them now?,” he asked. He appealed to the Governor to act boldly against encroachers and demanded action against Congress workers who had insulted the officers at Vidhana Soudha.

Complaint

Mr. Ugrappa filed a complaint with the Vidhana Soudha police on Saturday against Mr. Ramaswamy and some officers of the committee for alleged possession of documents related to the panel’s report.

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