New Delhi: Indian Overseas Congress chief Sam Pitroda has strongly denied accusations made by BJP leader N R Ramesh, who claimed Pitroda illegally acquired 12.35 acres of government land in Bengaluru. 

Ramesh alleged that Pitroda, with the help of five senior government officers, including those from the forest department, acquired land valued at Rs 150 crore in the Yelahanka area.

Ramesh, a former councillor in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), has filed a complaint with both the Enforcement Directorate and the Karnataka Lokayukta, demanding an investigation into the matter.

In response to the allegations, Pitroda issued a statement on social media platform X, categorically rejecting the claims. "In light of recent reports in the Indian media, both on television and in print, I wish to categorically state the following: I do not own any land, home, or stocks in India," Pitroda stated.

"Additionally, during my tenure working with the government of India -- whether with Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the mid-1980s or with Dr. Manmohan Singh from 2004 to 2014 -- I have never taken/received any salary," the Congress leader, who resides in the US, said.

"Furthermore, I want to put on record, unequivocally, that I have never in my entire life -- spanning 83 years -- paid or accepted any bribe, in India or in any other country. This is the absolute and irrefutable truth," Pitroda said.

In his complaint to the ED, the BJP leader stated that Pitroda registered an organisation named Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT) on October 23, 1993, at the office of the Registrar of Cooperative Societies in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

According to Ramesh, Pitroda registered FRLHT on October 23, 1993, at the office of the Registrar of Cooperative Societies in Mumbai. He claims that Pitroda then requested the Karnataka State Forest Department to lease a reserve forest area for the conservation of medicinal plants and research purposes.

In response to this request, the forest department granted a five-hectare (12.35 acres) plot of land on a five-year lease at 'B' Block, Jarakabande Kaval near Yelahanka in Bengaluru in 1996, Ramesh stated.

Ramesh further claimed that the lease, initially set to expire in 2001, was extended for another 10 years by the forest department. However, the lease period for the land, granted to FRLHT, expired on December 2, 2011, and was not renewed.

The BJP leader has now called for an investigation into the matter, alleging that Pitroda and his organization improperly retained the land beyond the official lease period.

After the lease expired, the state forest department was supposed to reclaim the 12.35 acres of valuable government land, which is now worth more than Rs 150 crore, Ramesh said.

He alleged that forest department officials had made no effort to reclaim the land for the past 14 years. Ramesh has urged the ED to file a criminal case against those involved in the alleged land grab, including the officials responsible. PTI