Govt to probe ex CS' land deals

Hyderabad: The State government is tightening the noose around former State Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar. The government is reportedly probing into the land deals entered by the retired IAS official and purchased lands at cheap prices in the Greater Hyderabad limits.

Somesh Kumar has played a key role in the creation of Dharani portal which invited strong criticism from the opposition parties mainly the Congress during the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) regime in the State. The Congress also made strong allegations against the official for favoring some top BRS leaders and realty companies in the land deals through the portal.

Somesh Kumar has allegedly bought land in Yacharam mandal where the government had proposed to develop a pharma city. The records said that the retired official bought 25 acres of land at Kothapally in the pharma city area in 2018. The cost of the land was only Rs 2 lakh per acre. The government was suspecting Somesh Kumar bought the land from some land owners in lieu of sanctioning the pharma city at throw away prices.

A sale deed document disclosed that Somesh Kumar bought the land in the name of his wife Gyanmudra from N Venugopal S Vijaya Lakshmi, R Yugendar Reddy and others. However, the officials of State Stamps and Registration did not confirm whether the documents were verified and sent to the government for a probe.