Land rates have gone through the roof, and goons have found an
easy way to make pots of money encroach upon the site, demand a ransom to
vacate it.
Radhakrishnan
Nair (name changed), an NRI from Bangalore residing in the US, recently
purchased a site at Ramamurthy Nagar for Rs40 lakh to build a house after his
retirement.
But
within a month he received a call from his friends in Bangalore informing him
that someone had encroached upon his site and fenced it. A worried Nair rushed
to Bangalore to find that the site had indeed been encroached upon. With great
difficulty, he managed to contact the people who claimed the site’s ownership.
They
told him the site belonged to them and even showed some documents to prove
their claim.
But
the documents were found to be fake since the name entered as the first-party,
shown as the seller, was wrong. The people who showed Nair the documents
admitted the discrepancy, but demanded `6 lakh as settlement money for
returning the site to Nair and assured him full protection from other
encroachers.
“They
told me that I can go to court, but will have to spend a huge sum of money and
many years to get back my site,” Nair said.
“They
said police won’t be able to help me since this is a civil dispute. Since I did
not have the time and energy (to fight a court case), I agreed to their demands
and paid them money. Since then, I have had no problem as the encroachers have
become the protectors of my property.”
Nair’s
case typically demonstrates how the land mafia functions in Bangalore. The much
sought-after outlying areas - like Ramamurthy Nagar, Devanahalli,
Doddaballabur, Yelahanka, Bommanahalli, Hosur Road etc - have become hotspots
of property development on which the land mafia has maintained an eagle’s eye.
If they don’t harm you, they will milk you financially by promising to protect
your property; in worst case scenarios, they grab the land that legally is
bought by the citizens with an eye on future development to retire in an
independent house in peace.
Many
times a citizen even decides against approaching the court fearing huge costs
and the time taken to clear the case.
If your property is on the radar of the land mafia, there is hardly a way out.
Sources
in the police department say many non-resident Bangaloreans with properties in
the city are facing a similar problem.
Police
helpless
Police, who admit to the existence of the racket in and around Bangalore, are
helpless as the offence comes under civil disputes and the aggrieved parties
have no option but to approach the court.
Additional
commissioner of police (law and order), T Sunil Kumar, said that as per the
2008 guidelines, police have no reason to intervene in civil disputes unless a
crime is committed. However, taking note of the fact that members of the land
mafia may exploit this to further resort to encroachment, Kumar said the police
have been asked to keep an eye out on such people and take stringent action under
the Goonda Act if they indulged in such acts.
“We
know such rackets exist,” a police officer from the east division, the hub of
such activities, told DNA.
“So, whenever we come across such incidents, we book them under the Goonda Act.
But the problem is that people are afraid to file complaints against such goons
(as they do not want to antagonise them) and agree to pay them protection money
to resolve the issue at the earliest.”
Earlier,
the police handled such cases, but the station in-charge officers virtually
became mediators in settling the property rows, leading to more corruption.
Way
out for mafia
In another case, a gangster from Bangalore South recently threatened a
city-based businessman-cum-whistleblower, Farooq Mueen - who helped the Lokayukta
nail KGF MLA Y Sampangi in a bribery case - after he tried to help his friend
whose land had been encroached. “My friend’s land has been encroached,” said
Mueen. “When we approached police, they suggested we go to court since it was a
civil matter,” he added.
“On
the other hand, the goons have been telling me to stay away from this and
calling my friend to approach them for a settlement.”
Taking a note on this, the former police commissioner Ajai Kumar Singh had
issued a circular to policemen not to get involved in civil disputes.
But
although corruption declined on this front, several gangs, influential people
and politicians started to resolve civil disputes as out-of-court settlements,
milking the involved parties financially.
Senior
police officials said the prevalent system has allowed several ways out for the
land mafia, based on their nexus with powerful politicians. If there is a fear
of the law coming down hard on them, they foresee an alternative way - what
they call out-of-court-settlement - and exploit the parties to benefit
themselves the most.
Problem’s
root
The fountainhead of the problem is the real-estate boom and the surge in demand
for housing, residential sites. These have become vulnerable to encroachment or
even re-sale - without the knowledge of genuine owners/buyers.
The
middle class people are the most vulnerable to the operations of land mafia.
While Mumbai and Dubai-based underworld dons, whose henchmen were active in the
city about a decade ago, used to target vacant land at prime locations, the
current land mafia - mostly local land sharks - is eyeing developing areas
mainly on the outskirts of Bangalore.
For
example, take the case of Maruthi Layout near Chinnappanahalli. The landlord
had formed a ‘layout’ and sold all the sites a few years ago. “We bought the
residential site five years ago,” says S Subramaniam, a software engineer. “We
wanted to commence the construction work, but in vain. He (the landlord) is
demanding more money on some pretext or the other. He is asking us to sell the
site to him at a price fixed by him. We are not in a position to fight him.”
Buying
residential sites owned by joint families has its own hazards. For example,
many people who bought sites at A Narayanapura, are being harassed by landlords
from Kaggadasapura. “They keep quiet till the site owners commence construction
work,” said K Ashok, a real-estate dealer. “They create nuisance at the site if
the owners refuse to pay money to them. They claim that the site belongs to
them. It has become a business for many people not only at Kaggadasapura but
also KR Puram, Ramamurthy Nagar and other areas.”
Recently,
more than 100 people residing at a layout near Devasandra were denied access to
the main road by the landlord of an adjacent layout. The landlord even damaged
the road laid by Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
Now
residents have to depend on the mercy of the landlord since the person who sold
sites to them is now not interested in coming to their aid. “We have become
scapegoats between the two landlords,” said a resident on the condition of
anonymity.
Mafia
effect
Riding on the real estate boom due to the prospect of land rates going up in
outlying areas where colossal infrastructure projects are on the line, even
established and reputed companies have been found to be allegedly involved in
grabbing of land.
Recently,
Kirloskar Systems Limited, a city-based leading real estate company, has been
accused of grabbing 10.3 acres of land belonging to a backward class family in
Hebbala village on Bangalore north division. Sixty-year-old Muniyappa, a
resident of Ramachandrapura, Harijan Colony in Yelahanka, has filed a complaint
with the Amrutahalli police alleging that the company chairman and other board
members of cheating, fraud and forgery on Saturday.
Muniyappa,
in his complaint, said the 10 acre and 39 guntas of land at survey number 71,
is ancestral property which was granted to his grandfather by the state
government. The family is since then using the land for the source of their
income and even the land records including Moola Hakku book (the title deed)
and relevant documents have mentioned the name of the family members as the
land owners.
The
incident came to light when Muniyappa went to the jurisdictional sub-registrar
office for some work, and found that the company has created and executed a
sale deed and even got the land survey done. The company later got the
fresh records claiming that they are the owners of the land, Muniyappa said.
The land in question has neither encumbered in anyone’s favour nor the family
executed the sale deed to anyone’s favour, he said in his complaint.
Muniyappa
approached the SC/ST legal cell seeking advice and while the matter is pending,
the company tried to dispose of the land, after threatening the family members
with dire consequences to force them to vacate the premises, Muniyappa alleged.
When
Muniyappa approached the jurisdictional police, he was sent back with an advice
to go to the court since it’s a civil dispute.
Based on the advice of the police, Muniyappa approached the city metropolitan
magistrate who directed the jurisdictional Amrutahalli police to investigate
the case, and submit a report
