Karnataka - Bangalore

Minister is off the mark, says president of wakf board

Bangalore: Khalid Ahmed, president of the Karnataka State Board of Wakfs, has said that the Minister for Haj and Wakfs, and Minority Welfare, Mumtaz Ali Khan, is “not aware of the facts of the case” on the alleged encroachment of a prime wakf property at Annipura next to Lalbagh here.

Speaking to presspersons here on Thursday, he said that the board welcomed the Minister’s statement on handing over the case to the Corps of Detectives (CoD), but clarified that the property in question had not been sold or leased as stated by Mr. Khan.

He said that one part of the land had been encroached upon by HOPCOMS and a case on it was pending in court.

On the Minister’s allegation that yet another portion of this land had been sold to an individual on the basis of fake records after the buyer paid Rs.1 crore, Mr. Ahmed said that it had also been under litigation and a compromise had been arrived at through legal consultation.

“The board has acted in the interests of the wakf institutions and as such no loss has been caused to them. The facts have been suppressed and distorted by the Minister without knowing the facts,” he said.

Mr. Ahmed requested the Minister to “use his good offices” to see that wakf property unauthorisedly occupied by HOPCOMS was vacated.

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