CID names 10 top politicians in Amaravati land scam

They knew in advance about the announcement of Amaravati as capital and kept owners in the dark

Names of some top politicians in Andhra Pradesh, including former MLAs and Ministers, have cropped up during preliminary inquiries made by Crime Investigation Department (CID) sleuths into the alleged land scam involving purchase of land in capital region of Amaravati.

Investigators stumbled upon documents suggesting that these politicians purchased lands on benami names, allegedly keeping the land owners in dark about the State government’s proposal to include these lands in capital region area. “We are cross-checking the documents available apart from oral statements made by some persons. If substantiating evidence is found, registration of criminal cases would follow automatically,” a top official unwilling to be named told The Hindu.

So far, the investigators reportedly gathered preliminary papers directly or remotely linking 10 politicians to the purchase of lands in capital region on benami names. Citing an example, the investigators said a former Minister had purchased lands in Vaddamanu, Vykuntapuram, Amaravati, Nidamarru, Pedaparimi and Venkatapalem villages. Area of the lands varied from 1.5 acres to 4.10 acres.

Documents collected from Amaravati Sub-Registrar Office indicate the former Minister’s benami purchased one piece of land in November, 2014. “Within a short period, the government declared the area covering this land as capital region,” the investigators said. The land purchasers, police surmise, knew in advance about the announcement of the land as capital region but deliberately kept the owners in dark for fraudulent gain.

A MLC, through his agents whose backgrounds are being verified, had allegedly purchased close to 25 acres of land in Thulluru, Velagapudi, Vykuntapuram, Mandada, Venkatapalem and Dharanikota. Some agents of this politician were running private companies from Hyderabad in Telangana. Transactions relating to these lands were executed before and soon after the then AP government issued Government Order No. 252, the investigators said.

CID sleuths are likely to invoke Sections 418 (cheating with knowledge that wrongful loss may cause to a person whose interest was bound to be protected) and (420 cheating) of Indian Penal Code against these nine politicians.

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