Bengaluru: More than 14 acres of land allegedly encroached upon by Union minister for steel and heavy industries HD Kumaraswamy and his relatives, among others, was recovered by revenue authorities near Bidadi in Ramanagara district on Tuesday, a day after Karnataka high court pulled up the revenue department over the slow progress in implementing its previous direction to reclaim the land.
“Kumaraswamy and his relatives hold high positions. The govt has not done anything in the past five years. We will give you two more weeks. You must either initiate action or admit you are incapable, and we will send you where you belong to…,” the high court told the Ramanagara district administration while hearing a contempt petition filed by NGO Samaja Parivartana Samudaya (SPS).
HD Kumaraswamy told reporters that he’s never engaged in any illegal activities in his life and that the land in question was bought 40 years ago. “I’ll fight against this govt’s (Karnataka govt) conspiracy through legal means,” he added.
“As per the HC’s orders, we have recovered and taken possession of the land in 7-8 survey numbers. The encroached land is more than 14 acres and there are several encroachers, including HD Kumaraswamy. We cannot disclose any more details as the report pertaining to the land encroachment is not in the public domain and we will submit all the details to the court,” Ramanagara deputy commissioner Yeshwanth V Gurukar said.
Ramanagara district officials provided tight security and heavy police deployment during the operation.
As per the findings by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the state govt in January 2025 to probe the allegations of encroachment of govt land in Kethaganahalli, about 14 acres of land spread across survey numbers 7, 8, 9, 10, 16, 17, and 79 were encroached upon.
“Even if the govt wants to evict an ordinary citizen, a notice must be issued at least 15 days in advance as per the law. However, I haven’t received any notice or official communication till now,” Kumaraswamy said.
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