JD-S takes Yeddyurappa land deals case to ombudsman

BANGALORE - Karnataka’s opposition Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) late Thursday filed a complaint with the Lok Ayukta (ombudsman) alleging Rs.5,000 crore land deals by Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa.

“We have made specific charges against Yeddyurappa for denotifying (freeing from government possession) valuable land to favour his family members,” JD-S spokesperson Y.S.V. Datta told reporters here.

The complaint runs into 580 pages and more will be filed soon, Datta said.

Yeddyurappa has acknowledged allotment of land to his sons, daughter, sister and her son and daughter-in-law but defended it on the ground that his predecessors too had done the same.

Datta said the complaint gives details of 180 acres freed from government possession to favour the chief minister’s family members.

The Lok Ayukta is an anti-corruption panel set up by an act of the state legislature. It is headed by N. Santosh Hegde, a retired judge of the Supreme Court.