Gundlupet: Accused of illegally transferring leased land.

Karnataka: Ratnamma, a victim from the Bhovi community, has alleged that a Bengaluru businessman has illegally encroached upon land leased for one year from nine farmers of the Bhovi community in Mangala village of the taluk.

Speaking at a press conference at a tourist center in the city, she said that the government had sanctioned land for cultivation in the limits of Mangala and Jakkalli villages of the taluk in 1977-78. A Bengaluru businessman allegedly obtained the land by getting a blank paper stamped and registered it in his name, later selling it to someone else.

The people who bought the land are now threatening them to vacate the premises. She expressed her distress that despite filing a complaint at the Gundlupet police station regarding the matter, they were told to accept the remaining money from the businessman and vacate the land.

Govinayak, founder of the Jarkiholi Brigade, said that in 1977-78, land was allotted to nine people, including Chinnaraju, Chikkagovindayya, Kumar Bhovi, Nataraju, Honna Bhovi, and Marabhovi, in survey numbers 116, 117, 118, and 121. He complained that middlemen paid the farmers a year’s lease amount from the businessman, obtained the signature of only one farmer, and illegally encroached upon the land belonging to the other farmers.