Kogilu Layout eviction: MLA Bharath Shetty demands SIT probe into illegal settlements
Mangalore Today News Network
Mangaluru, December 31, 2025: A comprehensive investigation should be conducted to ascertain who the migrants illegally settled in Kogilu Layout in Bengaluru are and why they came and settled there. For this purpose, the government must constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT), demanded MLA Dr Y. Bharath Shetty.
Addressing a press conference in Mangaluru on Wednesday, he alleged that the Siddaramaiah-led government is moving to rehabilitate those evicted by providing them housing four to five kilometres away, without seeking any documents from them. He further alleged that Housing Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan was involved in these developments.
He claimed that political pressure from Kerala was at work behind the move to provide housing to illegal migrants. “In the last two-and-a-half years, the government has not provided even a single house to the poor of the state. Nor has it allowed applications for residential sites in the city under Forms 94C and 94CC. When such is the plight of our own people, what is the justification for constructing houses for illegal migrants from other states?” he questioned.
Stating that the government has announced the construction of free houses for migrants who had illegally built homes in Kogilu Layout as a one-time measure, he said that while the Cabinet may have special powers in this regard, there is serious consideration of launching a legal battle over the issue.
He alleged that until 2023, there were not such large-scale illegal settlements in Kogilu Layout, and that Google maps imagery prior to 2023 shows only a handful of houses in the area. “Zameer’s gang brought illegal migrants there and settled them. All the land there has been encroached upon. There is a big conspiracy behind this,” he alleged.
He further questioned, “If we go and encroach upon the land belonging to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar or Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan, will the government build houses for us there? Doing this for the sake of Muslim votes is not right. A government that is building houses for people who have illegally settled from elsewhere has failed to construct houses for those in the state who lost their homes due to natural disasters. Even when wild elephant attacks occur in Kerala, compensation is paid from our state. The government is committing an injustice that the people of the state will not forgive.”
Responding to a query on implementing an ‘Inner Line Permit’ system in Karnataka, similar to that followed in some northeastern and northern states, he said that before considering such a move, the state must first collect data on how many people in Karnataka do not own houses or land and create an appropriate system to address their needs.