Karnataka Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre has written to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seeking an investigation by the state CID into alleged attempts to grab 532 acres of forest and government land in Bengaluru and Chikkamagaluru, after obtaining court orders based on fake documents.
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Khandre has said that the value of the land involved in the alleged land grab exceeds ₹25,000 crore and includes over 400 acres of reserved forest land in BM Kaval in south Bengaluru.
“M B Nemanna Gowda @ M B Manmatha has filed a writ petition in the high court and has obtained an order to transfer the documents of a total of 532 acres of land, including 482 acres of reserved forest land, allegedly allotted to him in BM Kaval near Kengeri, Bengaluru, under the Inam Abolition Act, to his name within three months,” the forest minister said.
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The government remained in the dark during the proceedings, which led to the high court order, and was informed only at the penultimate moment after the 90-day period to file appeals regarding the land grab attempt lapsed, Khandre has said in his letter.
The government advocate did not provide information to the government or the forest department about the high court case until a day remained for filing an appeal, and also opined that the case was not suitable for an appeal, Khandre further stated.
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The forest department, after being alerted to the alleged land grab, has issued orders to file an appeal. “Manmatha alias Nemanna Gowda has also tried to claim government land by giving false and fake documents in the past,” the minister alleged.
“As soon as the matter of Bangalore BM Kaval came to my notice, I ordered for a complaint to be registered. The fact that the Mudigere police circle inspector, who received the complaint on 28.11.2025, has not registered an FIR so far is also a reason for suspicion,” Khandre said in the letter.
“It appears that some officials and government lawyers are directly and indirectly helping those who are grabbing government and forest land worth thousands of crores of rupees,” the forest minister said, seeking a CID special investigation team to probe the matter.
The minister has also stated that he has sought action against forest officials who failed to act in time on the alleged bid to grab forest land and against officials who allegedly facilitated the fabrication of documents to claim forest land.