Continuing to train guns on expelled Minister Eatala Rajender, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has ordered an inquiry into yet another charge of land grabbing by the former 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 agricultural 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’s family since April 30 when the first probe was ordered into purchase of assigned lands for weaker sections by Jamuna Hatcheries owned by his wife and son at Atchampet and Hakimpet villages of Masaipet mandal in Medak district. The next day Medak Collector and a large team of revenue officials surveyed the lands and submitted a report to the government saying 66.01 acres of assigned land was under occupation by the hatcheries. Some sheds and buildings were constructed and a road was laid through assigned lands.
Mr. Rajender’s health portfolio was transferred to the Chief Minister the same day and subsequently he was removed from the Cabinet.
Within a couple of days, another probe into construction of warehouses by Mr. Rajender’s family on six acres in disputed lands of Sri Sitaramaswamy temple over 1,521 acres at Devarayamjal in Shamirpet mandal 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 but follow due process of law by issuing notices to the hatchery.
In the latest instance, the Chief Minister acted on a petition to him by a person Peetla Mahesh of Ravalkol village in Medchal district who complained that his 10.11 acres of agricultural ceiling land was shown as sold to Mr.Rajender’s son Nitin Reddy. Fake documents were created to classify it as Inam land for the purpose of transaction. However, he had inherited rights to the land under tenancy and ceiling Acts from his grandfather since 1954.
