Tenants forced to vacate homes

BANGALORE: At 1.30pm on Tuesday a posse of bank officials along with policemen landed at Kempanna Building in Vinayaka Nagar and forced its occupants to vacate their homes.
The puzzled occupants, 45 including 15 children, had no other option but to obey the orders. Even the near-visually impaired C Eranna and his visually impaired wife Netravathi, who run a music school and perform at orchestras, weren’t spared.Bank officials locked the main entrance and pasted this notice — ‘Breaking of the lock leads to criminal offence’.
Building owner Shivalinge Gowda had defaulted on repayment of a bank loan availed on the two-storeyed building. Bank officials armed with a court order arrived to attach the property and to do so, they had to vacate the inmates. The building, which houses 10 families, falls under Chandra Layout police limits in Bangalore West division. The occupants are employed at private companies, garments and gas agencies.
As they were forced out hurriedly, the occupants couldn’t carry anything with them, be it food, utensils, or school books of their children who are in the midst of exams. “I’d just about prepared food when bank officials ordered us to vacate the house. I left everything and came out,’’ said Indra Rani.
“The children — from Class 1 to 10 — are writing their final exams. All their study material is inside the houses. What should they do now?” said Shankar.
“Our owner Shivalinge Gowda is not taking calls. Where do we spend the night?” asked a worried Bhagyamma.
Residents informed local corporator B Umesh, but he couldn’t do much as the bank had a court order. Later, all residents approached Chandra Layout police station and filed a case against Shivalinge Gowda.
A senior police official said: “We feel sorry for the tenants, particularly women and children. But, it’s a court order and has to be obeyed. We are trying to trace Shivalinge Gowda and settle the matter at the earliest.”
Who is Shivalinge Gowda?
A resident of Chandra Layout, Shivalinge Gowda is the building owner. He’d taken a bank loan but defaulted on repayment. When bank officials took possession of the building, he was away and didn’t respond to phone calls. Tenants said he owns two more residential buildings — in Katriguppe and Chandra Layout. Both are reportedly pledged with different banks.
Tinku’s dinner
Despite their woes, tenants didn’t forget to feed their dog Tinku. “He was a puppy when someone left him here. Since then, we’ve been feeding him and today we brought biryani from a hotel,’’ said Pramod Gowda.