Government Land Worth Rs 15 Bn Allegedly Transferred in Sircilla
The district administration has initiated an investigation into the widespread land scam and discovered that approximately 1,300 to 1,400 acre of land were illegally seized, particularly in seven to eight villages located along major roads.
Though the scam began before 2009, it grew significantly between 2016 and 2023, particularly after the BRS government launched the Land Records Updation Programme (LRUP) in 2017. A senior official mentioned that the land, valued at an average of Rs 10 million per acre, is now worth Rs 10.50 million per acre in certain areas.
The extent of the fraud is evident in several villages. In Laxmipur, near Sircilla town, over 40 individuals illegally acquired pattas for prime land valued around Rs 10.5 million per acre. In Sardapur, more than 70 acre of land were illegally converted from freedom fighters' land to land for ‘political sufferers,' enabling the land to be sold to private parties. For freedom fighters' land, a government no-objection certificate (NOC) is required, but no such NOC is needed for political sufferers' land.
As the district administration began identifying the perpetrators and filed six FIRs, several individuals involved started to come forward. For example, former sarpanch Mittapalli Padma recently surrendered six acres of land to the district collector, Sandeep Kumar Jha. Five individuals, including former tahsildars, have been arrested, while six others remain at large.
Jha informed that 300 acre of the illegally transferred land had already been reclaimed, as it was vacant. The scale of the scam became apparent through a detailed modus operandi. Village revenue officers (VROs) would identify government land, freedom fighters' land, or assigned land and share this information with influential individuals or businesspersons. These individuals would then approach other revenue officials, such as tahsildars and revenue inspectors, to facilitate the registration of the land after converting it for non-agricultural use.
For instance, in Sardapur, government-assigned land was converted into patta land under the names of private individuals. In another case, Jindam Devdas allegedly seized three acres of government land in Thangallapally and had his name recorded as the pattadar with the help of the tahsildar and village revenue officer, sources stated.
In Sardapur, government-assigned land, where transfers and sales are prohibited, was registered under private hands by the Vemulawada sub-registrar in 2007, 2009, and 2011. The land was subsequently recorded in the Dharani land portal, and non-agricultural land conversion was also completed. Due to its proximity to a main road, commercial establishments were built on the land. Several individuals are facing charges for allegedly seizing 11 acre in Thangallapally and manipulating the conversion of government land into patta land with the assistance of local revenue officials.