Hyderabad: The Janagaon district administration unearthed a major land scam worth Rs 450 crore and resumed 163 acres govt land from the clutches of private people possessions in Salvador village in Bachannapet mandal on Tuesday.The 163 acres prime land which is classified as ‘Gairan’ (public common) went into private hands through a chain fraudulent and illegal acts for over two decades, officials said.Janagaon collector Sandeep Kumar Jha told TOI that physical possession of about 84 acres of the principal occupied extent has been taken over at the site through a detailed panchnama on Tuesday, and the entire survey number now stands resumed to, and vested in, the Telangana govt.Officials said the land classified as “Gairan” in the settlement record (Sethwar) and protected under the prohibited-property register. But the land was first taken through registered sale deeds executed by persons, who held no title to it, followed by mutations and the pass books and title deeds obtained on their strength.“The diversion was then given a colour of legality by an order passed earlier some officers, by which the officials treated this govt “Gairan” land as private “patta” land, and the land was removed from the prohibited register and almost its entire extent was converted to non-agricultural use,” Sandeep Kumar Jha said.The Telangana high court directed a fresh enquiry into the nature of the land and how “Gairan” land converted into private patta.On the high court’s directions, district collector Sandeep Kumar Jha got a thorough enquiry, verified the documents and survey records and found that the entire survey number to be govt’s “Gairan” land.He declared the chain of sale deeds, mutations, pass books and title deeds void and cancelled the “patta” issued over the govt land, recalled the earlier order and its consequential proceedings, including the removal from the Prohibited register and the non-agricultural conversion and resumed the land.Now the district administration corrected the Record of Rights, the survey number has been re-included in the prohibited-property register, and the registration of any document touching this land has been blocked so that it cannot again be alienated from govt.“The recovery of the land is only the first step. The earlier order, and the fraud behind it, caused a grave loss to the govt, and the matter is being carried to its logical conclusion so that responsibility is fixed and the public interest is fully protected,” the district collector said.Ends
