An interesting story is being played out at Mercara(Madikeri) Fort & Palace. H C N Wadiyar, a flour mill owner at Mysore, claiming to the be descendent of the Haleri Royal Family had locked the Mercara Palace, claiming rights over it.
On 4th May,
it was reported that Wadiyar had objected the opening of "Balamandira" inside the palace, by the district administration, without his permitting so. He also shot a letter to the DC, claiming rights over the place and asserting that his ancestors never transferred the property to the "Government of Mysore" or Government of India. Further stating that he wants to "takeover" the palace soon.
By 8.00 PM on the same day, Gouri Satya of
Business Standard reported that H C Nagaraju(Wadiyar) had got the possession of the palace and Nagaraju had claimed that the President of India had ordered that the placed belonged to him.
According to the report he also displayed a notice in his stop that stated;
As per the order of His Excellency President of India, the Mercara Palace belongs to H C N Wadeyar, quoting the order No.F.No.1-204/2013-RTI (Hq) dated 26-9-2013, Government of India, Janpath, New Delhi.
Yesterday,
it was reported that Wadiyar had "locked" up the palace, which also functions as the "Deputy Commissioners" office and put up a board that reads - "H C N Wadiyar, Maharaja of Coorg, Owner of Markara Palace."
The district administration has filed a case against Wadiyar for his efforts.
While shifting through articles on Coorg.com, I came across a comment. The above emphasised heading is a part of the comment left by a person at one of the article, and he seems to be employed with Vestas. Vestas is a billion dollar company which is into manufacturing of wind turbines.