CID starts probe into Rs 587 Cr land scam; ACB conducts

Hyderabad: The Telangana CID on Wednesday began its probe into the alleged illegal transfer of government land to private individuals, while the ACB conducted searches at the offices of sub-registrar in seven districts of the state.

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had yesterday ordered a CID inquiry into the alleged illegal transfer of 796 acres of state land to private persons in Medchel district.

He had also directed ACB officials to keep a close vigil on the activities in sub-registrar offices and investigate instances of corruption.

The Cyberabad Police, on May 28, arrested R Srinivasa Rao, sub-registrar of Kukatpally, and P S Parthasarathi and P V S Sharma, directors of two real estate firms, for "illegal" transfer of government land in Miyapur village on the city outskirts, and causing a loss of Rs 587 crore to the state exchequer.

"Following the chief minister's orders, we have started a probe and are coordinating with Cyberabad Police and collecting more details about the case," a senior CID officer said.

The investigators will also speak to officials of the stamps and registration, and revenue departments as part of the probe, he said.

In a related development, ACB officials conducted searches and started verifying documents at sub-registrar offices in seven districts to find out if there was any irregularity, a senior officer of the anti-graft agency said.

Apart from Srinivasa Rao, two more sub-registrars have been arrested from the city since yesterday by the police on charge of registering properties violating provisions of the Registration Act, 1908 and allegedly causing a huge loss to the exchequer.

Meanwhile, the state government today continued to reshuffle officers in the registration department as part of efforts to check corruption in the wake of the "land scam".

In 141 registrations offices, 72 fresh officers have been appointed in the reshuffle, a release from the Chief Minister's Office said.