Police questions Karnataka Home Minister

Lokayukta police on Thursday questioned Karnataka Home Minister R Ashoka in connection with its probe into a complaint filed against him for allegedly securing denotification of government land in violation of rules.

A team led by City Lokayukta Superintendent of Police P Shivashankar questioned Ashoka for about 90 minutes in its office and asked him about 80 questions about the course of events in purchasing and denotification of a piece of land, Lokayukta police sources said.

A sessions court had on Wednesday directed Lokayukta police to submit its final report on the complaint filed against Ashoka by December 16.

RTI activist Jayakumar Hiremath had filed the complaint accusing Ashoka of being involved in illegal denotification of government land, causing an estimated loss of Rs 50 crore to the state exchequer.

Hiremath alleged the minister had secured denotification of 23.12 guntas (a gunta is 1/40 of an acre) of land belonging to Bangalore Development Authority when B S Yeddyurappa was the Chief Minister.

Earlier, the Lokayukta police submitted a status report on its investigations into the complaint.