CP Yogeshwar faces heat from Congress

BANGALORE: Forest Minister C P Yogeshwar, who is facing charges of forging documents and cheating investors when he was MD of a private real estate company, is facing the heat, as the Congress has strongly demanded Governor H R Bhardwaj to sack him from the state Cabinet.A Congress delegation led by Karantaka Pradesh Congress Committee president Dr G Parameshwar met the Governor here on Tuesday and submitted a memorandum to him.The leaders alleged that Channapatna legislator C P Yogeshwar, now a minister in the BJP government, has allegedly collected over `71 crore promising residential sites and plots by floating a company under the Companies Act 1956.They stated that the promoters of the company after collecting huge sums from the public siphoned it off.The memorandum said that an inquiry was ordered against the company under the Companies Act.The Fraud Investigation Office of the Union Ministry of Company Affairs, which had conducted the investigation, has recommended criminal prosecution against the minister and other directors of the firm, Megacity Buildiers and Developers Limited.Some of the charges made against the minister include forgery, cheating and misappropriation of funds.The directors and promoters of the company also face charges of misappropriation of funds of about `25 crore, criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy under various sections of the IPC.The Congress leaders also brought to the notice of the Governor about the Karnataka Lokayukta which has registered a case against the minister for allegedly possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.