(This story originally appeared in on Mar 27, 2012)

BANGALORE: A Karnataka government-appointed committee which surveyed wakf board lands in the state has stumbled upon a multicrore scandal. The estimated loss to the exchequer is likely to be around Rs 2 lakh crore, according to panel member Anwar Manippady.

Manippady, who also heads the Karnataka State Minorities Commission , on Monday submitted a 7,000-page report on the scam to chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda. "The report may be tabled in the assembly in a day or two. Many middlemen, land mafia and politicians are involved in the scam," Manippady told reporters.

The chief minister said: "I am amazed that the wakf land scam runs into Rs 2 lakh crore. We'll take this forward and ensure all the encroached lands are reclaimed. We'll not spare anyone."

The committee established that major irregularities took place between 2001 and 2012 in the transfer of government land to private parties through mutation.

Mutation is a legal process through which the government land is transferred or sold to individuals, institutions, persons or firms after a proper verification of documents. This process, sources said, was flagrantly violated while selling or transferring wakf land to private individuals.

Manippady declined to name the politicians involved, but sources said the report names 38 Congress leaders. Of the wakf board's 33,741 properties spread over a whopping 54,000 acres of registered land, 22,000-27,000 acres have not been used for what they're meant for. "About 85% of properties misused are in Bangalore," he said.

Panel locks 'useless' accounts office

Members of the BBMP standing committee on accounts paid a surprise visit to the civic body's chief accounts office on Monday and were shocked to see that even files marked as "urgent" from the additional chief secretary in the urban development department were gathering dust.

Realizing that the office was not serving any purpose, the members led by panel chairperson AL Shivakumar did what they thought was apt: they just locked the accounts section and left. The inspection commenced at 1pm and went on up to 4pm.

"There is a possibility of misuse of funds as revenue receipts and expenditure do not match," Shivakumar said. "There is no bank reconciliation audit, no trial balance and no computerization of the accounting system. A cheque for Rs 68 lakh has been issued to horticulture wing without the commissioner's approval. A lot of files were missing and when I asked the staff about them, none of them had any answer," he told TOI. The staff watched helplessly as they were locked out. At 8pm, Shivakumar was approached by the officials to open the office but he refused. TNN

What happened

*Lands belonging to wakfs transferred to private individuals and institutions.

*Out of 33,741 wakf board properties, at least 22,000 acres misused - 85% of these in Bangalore.

*Wakf board functionaries helped in selling land to the influential and the powerful.

*Most of the irregularities happened between 2001 and 2012.