Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has ordered an inquiry into yet another charge of land grabbing by former Minister Eatala Rajender and his family.
He ordered the Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar to institute the probe by Anti-Corruption Bureau of police and vigilance and revenue departments.
The Chief Minister took the step on the basis of a complaint received from a villager of Ravalkol in Medchal district who claimed that his 10.11 acres of ceiling land was illegally transferred in the name of Mr. Rajender's son Nitin Reddy.
This is the third instance of land grabbing charges levelled against the former Minister since April 30 when the first probe was ordered into purchase of assigned lands for weaker sections by Jamuna Hatcheries owned by the ex-Minister's wife and son at Atchampet and Hakimpet villages of Medak district. The Medak Collector and a large team of revenue officials surveyed the lands and submitted a report to the government.
Mr. Rajender's health portfolio was transferred to the Chief Minister the same day and finally he was removed from the Cabinet the next day.
Within a couple of days, another probe into encroachment of about 1,521 acres of temple lands for construction of warehouses by Mr. Rajender's family at Devarayamjal in Shamirpet was ordered by the Chief Minister. This time the government appointed a four member committee of IAS officers headed by Panchayatraj Commissioner M. Raghunandan Rao.
Even as the panel was proceeding with the probe, Jamuna Hatcheries filed an urgent petition in the High Court seeking relief from the government's ill advised move. By a house motion, the court ordered the government not to initiate any action based on the report of Medak Collector.
