Bangalore, Oct. 25: A Lokayukta court today ordered a probe into allegations that S.M. Krishna and some other former Karnataka chief ministers allotted more land than required for a dormant highway project.

Besides Krishna, now the Union external affairs minister, the other ex-chief ministers include H.D. Deve Gowda, Dharam Singh and B.S. Yeddyurappa.

The probe order on the Bangalore-Mysore expressway came on a complaint by activist T.J. Abraham, who had earlier accused Krishna of encouraging illegal mining. But the Supreme Court had stayed the probe in that case.

Today, the judge held that the evidence presented by Abraham in the land controversy “merited a deep look”. The former chief ministers are among 30 individuals to be probed. They include a minister in the current BJP government, C.M. Udasi, Congress MLA D.K. Shiv Kumar, and the chief of the private firm assigned the project.

The 100km road was planned during Gowda’s tenure in the late 1990s and land acquired in phases. Krishna, Dharam Singh and Yeddyurappa allegedly carried forward despite allegations of illegal acquisition from farmers. Abraham has claimed 4,400 acres in excess were acquired.