PM aide Nair rubbishes allegations of being involved in Bangalore land scam

Bangalore, April 29 (ANI): One of the closest advisors of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, T.K.A. Nair, on Sunday rubbished allegations that some of his relatives and a friend had been allotted land in a south Bangalore cooperative society at throwaway prices.

Reacting to a report in The Hindu newspaper that said that the BEML Employees' Co-operative Society had allotted plots to Nair's niece and a friend in south Bangalore at throwaway prices, Nair was quoted by a televevision channel, as saying that the charge was baseless and without foundation. He said that there was no irregularity or illegality in the allotment of the land in question.

Earlier, the newspaper had quoted K.S. Periyaswamy, a stakeholder, as saying that the society was pressured by BEML chairman and managing director V.R.S. Natrajan to make these allotments to Nair's kin and a friend.

According to The Hindu, Periyaswamy even wrote to the Prime Minister's Office and the President alleging that Nair was one of the most corrupt officers in the UPA regime, and that the allotments were made to ensure silence of the PMO on the Tatra Scam.

Nair's niece and family friends are said to have returned the plots in December 2010.

Periyaswamy has told The Hindu that at least 40 other defence ministry officials got plots thanks to Natarajan. (ANI)