Land encroachment by Kumaraswamy: Karnataka government begins eviction drive in Ramanagara

Earthmovers were deployed to remove structures and reclaim the land, ensuring compliance with legal mandates.

The Karnataka Revenue Department on Tuesday launched an operation to clear encroachments on 14 acres of government land in Ramanagara district, allegedly occupied by the family of Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy.

Union minister HD Kumaraswamy. (ANI)

Acting on the directives of the Karnataka High Court, authorities initiated the eviction drive with the assistance of district officials and police personnel, news agency PTI reported.

Earthmovers were deployed to remove structures and reclaim the land, ensuring compliance with legal mandates.

In January this year, the state government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the encroachment of government land in Kethaganahalli village, Bidadi, in Ramanagara district.

The SIT found that 14.04 acres of land in survey numbers 7, 8, 9, 10, 16, 17, and 79 had been encroached upon, based on a joint survey conducted by the Revenue Department and the Survey Settlement Department, sources said.

The case of encroachment is currently pending before the High Court.

During a hearing on Monday, the court took a strong view of the failure to implement its eviction order.

The matter has been posted for hearing on March 19, with directions to Revenue Department officials to submit a status report.

Meanwhile, R Devaraju, on behalf of Kumaraswamy, wrote to the district authorities on March 15, requesting them to recover the land if any encroachment was found and to identify his land that was ‘lost’ in the same village.

(With PTI inputs)