Evidence of mining kickbacks to Yeddyurappa: NGO
Bangalore : Documentary evidence on tainted former Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and his kin receiving kickbacks from mining firms for granting leases was revealed by an NGO Tuesday.
According to a Dharwad-based NGO Samaj Parivartan Samudaya (SPS), which submitted 113-page documents to the Supreme Court-appointed central empowered committee (CEC), the two real estate firms owned by Yeddyurappa’s family members received Rs.6 crore in return for granting a 330-acre mining lease to R. Praveen Chandra of Chitradurga in October 2010.
“We have submitted evidence of the quid pro quo between favours granted by Yeddyurappa as chief minister and the money (Rs.6 crore) Chandra gave to the real estate firms. A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe will reveal the corrupt nexus between the two parties in the multi-crore mining scam,” Samudaya president S.R. Hiremath told reporters here.
As also in-charge of the state mining department during his 39-month tenure as chief minister, Yeddyurappa granted the mining lease to Chandra in a letter to the central mining secretary September 30, 2009 and through a notification to the mining firm October 12, 2010, allotting 330 acres in Chitradurga district, about 200 km from Bangalore.
Yeddyurappa, who was the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) first chief minister in south India from May 30, 2008, resigned July 31, 2011 after he was indicted by then state Lokayukta (ombudsman) Justice N. Santosh Hegde in the mining scam probe.
Evidence of payments to the real estate firms – Bhagat Homes Ltd and Dhavalagiri Property Developers Ltd, owned by Yeddyurappa’s two sons – B. Y. Vijayendra and B.Y. Raghavendra and son-in-law Sohan Kumar, were also found in the balance sheets of the respective firms in the form of Rs.2.5 crore and Rs.3.5 crore.
Raghavendra is the BJP’s Lok Sabha member from Shimoga constituency, about 270 km from Bangalore.
“The new evidence against Yeddyurappa was unearthed on the basis of the final investigation report the Lokayukta submitted to the state government July 27, 2011 on the mega mining scam in the state over a decade,” Hiremath asserted.
The NGO also submitted proof of funds received by Prerana Educational and Social Trust, also owned by Yeddyurappa’s kin, from various sources, including group companies of JSW Steel Ltd, which runs the Vijayanagar steel plant in Bellary district, about 330 km from Bangalore.
The set of documents reveal that the trust received Rs.27.18 crore as donations from various firms, including Adarsh Developers, Industrial Techno Man Power Supply & Services Ltd, Real Technical Solutions Ltd and South West Mining Ltd, among others.
“The National Committee for Protection of Natural Resources (NCPNR) had also collected these documents,” Hiremath said.
The CEC is slated to submit its report to the apex court Friday (Feb 24) based on its hearing with the NGO and documents furnished by it.
