Shreyas H S
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore

Mangalore, Apr 12: RTI activist Haneef Saheb in a complaint filed with the Election Commission has alleged that former chief minister and Lok Sabha candidate from Bangalore North D V Sadananda Gowda in his affidavit filed before the returning officer has given false statements about his assets.

A complaint in connection to this effect was filed with the EC in Bangalore by Haneef Saheb on April 8.

Speaking to daijiworld on the allegations levelled by him against DVS, Haneef Saheb said the former chief minister in his affidavit has made false claims about his properties in different places of Dakshina Kannada, particularly in Puttur. DVS has shown the value of his assets less than their current market value, he said.

Haneef further claimed that Sadananda Gowda's land that houses a residential building located at Puttur (Padil) Kasaba was not in his name and that most part of the land still belongs to the government. "Sadananda Gowda has written in the affidavit that land pertaining to survey numbers 279, 5B1 and 5B2 (10 cents) was allotted to him as a government grant on June 16, 1998. The RTC taken from Puttur taluk office proves that this wrong. Sadananda Gowda's name is missing in the RTC," Haneef said

Surprisingly, in the affidavits he submitted in the years 2004 and 2009, he had mentioned the survey numbers as 279, 5B6 and 5B7(10 cents). "The RTC details at the taluk office show that the land was allotted to him under these survey numbers," he added.

The sudden change in the survey numbers in the affidavit filed in the year 2014 is indeed surprising. For the survey number 279 5B1 and 5B2, a mutation order states that 0.75 acres of the land was given to a person named Nagesh Acharya in the year 2004 (29/6). There was no other record available for this RTC in the taluk office, Haneef explained.

According to Haneef, the former chief minister has disclosed false market values for the properties. Though the value has shot up over the years, DVS has declared less value in the affidavit, he alleged.