HYDERABAD: Govt land worth over 1,500 crore was allegedly transferred to private individuals in Rajanna Sircilla district, mainly through fraudulent entries in revenue records, land conversions with fake documents, and land registration.
The district administration has begun investigating the widespread land scam and identified that 1,300 acres to 1,400 acres of land was illegally grabbed, particularly in seven to eight villages along main roads.
While the scam unfolded before 2009, it escalated dramatically between 2016 and 2023, especially after the BRS govt initiated the Land Records Updation Programme (LRUP) in 2017. “The land, valued at an average of 1 crore per acre, is worth 1.50 crore per acre in certain areas,” a senior official said.
The extent of the fraud is evident in several villages. In Laxmipur, near Sircilla town, over 40 people illegally acquired pattas for prime land worth around 1.5 crore per acre. In Sardapur, more than 70 acres of land was illegally converted from freedom fighters’ land to land for ‘political sufferers’, allowing the land to be sold to private individuals. For freedom fighters’ land, a govt no objection certificate (NOC) is required, but no such NOC is needed for political sufferers’ land.
As the district administration began identifying the culprits and filed six FIRs, individuals involved started to come forward. Former sarpanch Mittapalli Padma, for example, surrendered six acres of land to the district collector, Sandeep Kumar Jha, a few days ago. Five persons, including former tahsildars, have been arrested, while six others remain at large.
Jha told TOI that 300 acres of the illegally transferred land has already been reclaimed, as it was vacant. The scale of the scam unfolded through a detailed modus operandi.
Village revenue officers (VROs) would identify govt land, freedom fighters’ land, or assigned land, and pass this information to influential individuals or businesspersons. These persons would then approach other revenue officials, including tahsildars and revenue inspectors, to help register the land after converting it to non-agricultural use.
For example, in Sardapur, govt-assigned land was converted to patta land in the names of private individuals. In another case, Jindam Devdas allegedly grabbed three acres of govt land in Thangallapally and had his name recorded as the pattadar with the help of the tahsildar and village revenue officer, sources said.
In Sardapur, govt-assigned land, where transfers and sales are prohibited, was registered in private hands by the Vemulawada sub-registrar in 2007, 2009, and 2011.
The land was later recorded in Dharani land portal, with non-agricultural land conversion also completed. Given its proximity to a main road, commercial establishments have been constructed on the land. Several individuals, are facing charges for allegedly grabbing 11 acres in Thangallapally and manipulating conversion of govt land into patta land with assistance of local revenue officials.
