The State government has set up a five-member special investigation team (SIT) to investigate allegations of land grab against Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries H.D. Kumaraswamy.

Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said the SIT headed by Bengaluru Regional Commissioner Amlan Aditya Biswas has been set up following the Karnataka High Court’s directions. The order constituting the SIT was issued on January 28.

The case pertains to alleged encroachment of 14.04 acres of government land on survey numbers 8, 9, 10, 16, and 79 at Kethaganahalli village on the outskirts of Bidadi in Ramanagara district. 

Apart from Mr. Biswas, the SIT has Survey, Settlement and Land Records Joint Director Nisar Ahmed, Additional Bengaluru Regional Commissioner Islauddin J. Gadyal, and Tahsildar Ganapati Shastri as members with Tahsildar Grade-2 Sheetal as member-secretary. 

While the SIT has been given three months to complete its probe, Mr. Byre Gowda said the government wants to submit its report to the High Court at the earliest. “We had sought three months’ time to complete the probe. However, the High Court has not agreed to this. We will try to complete the probe within the stipulated time frame given by the court,” he told reporters on Saturday.

According to the order, the government has asked the SIT to verify the authenticity of documents belonging to survey numbers 8, 9, 10, 16, and 79 at Kethaganahalli. If needed, the SIT can send the documents to the forensic lab and investigate if rules have been violated.