Officials of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Tuesday, filed a case on irregularities in purchasing land in core capital area in Amaravati, the Legislative Capital of Andhra Pradesh.
Following a complaint received by ACB Director General, P.S.R. Anjaneyulu, a preliminary inquiry has been conducted and based on the inquiry report, the Guntur ACB sleuths registered a case and took up investigation.
Investigation officers filed a case against former Advocate General of AP, Dammalapati Srinivas, and twelve others under Section 13(2) r/w.13(1) (d-ii) Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, Sections 409 (Criminal breach of trust by public servant) and 420 (Cheating) IPC r/w.120-B.
The ACB officials registered a case against Srinivas for allegedly abusing his official position and gaining advantage in the form of lands reportedly registered on the names of his family members and others.
Valuable properties
“Valuable lands were transferred on the names of Srinivas and his associates from June 2014 to December 2014. The lands were located in Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) and the core capital area,” the investigation officers told The Hindu.
Officials of the Crime Investigation Department (CID), AP, investigated on the alleged land scam in Amaravati. They arrested a couple of Deputy Collectors and Tahsildar (Mandal Revenue Officer) rank officers allegedly involved in the scam a few days ago.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the CID identified that irregularities have taken place in the capital region and some people purchased hundreds of acres at a paltry amount and deceived the farmers.
Collusion
“Some Revenue personnel colluded with the accused and cooperated for the land scam in Thulluru, Neerukonda, Uddandarayunipalem, Mandadam, Penumaka, Undavalli, Nelapadu, Rayapudi, Errabalem and other villages. The officials tampered the records and resorted to high-level irregularities,” a police officer said.
A few former Ministers, then MLAs, MLCs, public representatives, their family members, bureaucrats, businessmen and others purchased lands in the core capital under CRDA. More than 4,000 acres have been involved in the scam, an officer probing the land-scam said.
