Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Jul 21: Addressing a press conference held in the office of Dakshina Kannada district Congress here on Tuesday July 20, general secretary of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, Vijayakumar Shetty, charged district in-charge minister, Krishna J Palemar, of being involved with sand mafia.

“As his scandals are tumbling out into the open one by one, Krishna Palemar is developing cold feet about the prospect of losing his ministerial berth. Having been disturbed mentally as a result, he has been issuing unnecessary statements. The minister has accused the Congress leaders of being behind the news of sand accumulation in Mary Hill in the city. He also has charged the media with foul play. By stating that he had deposited Rs 20 lac as stamp duty towards the defamation suit he wants to file against the concerned, he has exhibited his lack of knowledge,” he stated. He also said that the Congress is prepared to effectively face any kind of defamation suit that Palemar might file in the courts.

“A person named Harish, with the connivance of Sujit Alva, has stocked over 1,000 tonnes of sand at Adyapady. In Siddakatte, sand is being extracted from river by using motor. A few BJP leaders in high positions are involved with these things,” he alleged.

District Congress spokesperson, M G Hegde, asked the minister, before deciding to file defamation suit, to provide full details of the licence, trip sheet, royalty payments etc., relating to the sand stored in Mary Hill. He said that KPCC will continue to fight this case.

KPCC secretary, Badruddin, Deepak Tripathi Patil of NSUI, Shashidhar Hegde, Suresh Ballal, Arun Coelho, Harinath, Tejasvi Raj etc., were present at the press conference.