BBMP hiding crucial info on land, alleges BMTF

BANGALORE: The Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF), set up to protect government properties, has reason to believe that the major hurdle in recovering these properties is the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) itself.
Additional director general of police (ADGP) RP Sharma on Monday told media that investigation into a case of kharab land in Miller's Tank area, where there are allegations of various people claiming ownership, has come to a halt as BBMP's North Zone joint commissioner hasn't given the complete survey report."We can't proceed with the investigation without these details to decide who the bonafide property owner is," he added.
BMTF has been asking for the related survey report for the past three months, but officials maintain they are busy with election duty, said Sharma.
Similarly, investigation into the alleged encroachment of a burial ground in Sampangiram Nagar is also going on at a slow pace. M Gopi, councillor of the area, had filed a complaint about this with the BMTF. BMTF police sub-inspector Suma Rani said the agency had issued a notice both to Gopi and the BBMP commissioner to provide documents that prove the land belongs to the BBMP. But till date, neither Gopi nor the commissioner has replied in writing or provided any documents, she said. "The documents of this property were formatted in 1941, and are in old Kannada, so we approached the translation department, but officials there have asked us to take the help of a private translator."
However, Sharma pointed out that the number of cases received by BMTF is gradually decreasing. In 2012, 208 cases were reported, this number slipped to 135 in 2013. This year, only 23 cases have been reported so far.