Ongole: SIT to probe cases of land grabbing with forged documents
Prakasam collector AS Dinesh Kumar, SP Malika Garg, joint collector Srinivasulu speaking at a press conference in Ongole on Friday
Ongole : Prakasam district collector AS Dinesh Kumar, SP Malika Garg and joint collector K Srinivasulu said that they were receiving complaints from public and were searching for the accused who had been at large since unearthing of forged documents scam.
Addressing a joint press meet at the collectorate on Friday, the collector said that a detailed investigation is going on in the cases booked against perpetrators who grabbed lands in various parts of the district using forged documents.
On September 26, a ZPTC complained that some people had removed compound wall of their land in Ongole and threatened them with a fake registration documents.
She said that the scammers are warning her family that they will complain against them under SC, ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, and she requested the authorities to investigate and serve justice.
Ongole mayor Gangada Sujatha also complained about some incidents of land grabbing in Ongole which came to her attention, and requested the authorities to look into the matter.
Based on both complaints, the collector said that the police department investigated, and raided the house of Purnachandra Rao in Lawyer Pet of Ongole, and seized 123 judicial and non-judicial documents, forged and original registration documents, Mee Seva, VSWS certificates, 25 stamps and seals of offices and officials from various departments.
The collector appointed a Special Investigation Team comprising of police, revenue and registration officers and welcomed the public to complain if they were victims of similar crimes and allocated two Additional SPs, three DSPs and 17 CIs in the SIT along with officials from other departments.
The collector said that they booked 54 cases on Purnachandra Rao and his gang, identified 72 suspects and arrested 38 accused, seized 572 documents, 60 stamps and seals of various departments, and 1200 non-judicial stamp papers from the arrested people.
SP Malika Garg informed that police is investigating the cases from all angles, and advised public not to have any doubts on the investigation. She also said that they cannot reveal the names of the suspects or the absconding people, as they may get alerted and may not be traceable easily.