The office of Chief Minister Y.S .Jagan Mohan Reddy took stock of the ongoing probe into the fake land documents racket in Prakasam district on Friday, following Ongole MLA Balineni Srinivasa Reddy reportedly expressing concern over the way in which the district police were investigating the case.
The Chief Minister’s Additional Secretary K. Dhananjaya Reddy was closeted with District Collector A.S. Dinesh Kumar and Superintendent of Police Malika Garg as the probe gathered further progress on Friday, sources close to the former Energy Minister reported said.
Mr. Reddy, a relative of the CM, pressed for an impartial probe into the case by swiftly arresting all the accused in the case as he claimed that the present probe was shielding some of the accused persons in the case. ‘‘The development has put the ruling party in an embarrassing position as it comes at a time when the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the State are fast approaching,” the Minister, according to the sources, had told the CMO.
The district police who have so far registered 16 cases, including four in the last 48 hours, have achieved ‘‘significant progress in seven cases’‘, the SP told The Hindu. Police have so far arrested 12 offenders in connection with the racket which came to light following the arrest of the kingpin Ch. Purnachandra Rao and seizure of fake seals of MRO offices, Panchayat Office, Registrar office, Stamp vendor license seals, Birth and Deaths certificates and empty judicial stamp papers. As many as 15 complaints have so far been registered in connection with the transactions done with fake land deeds.
It will take a long time for the SIT to complete the probe in coordination with an official team constituted by the District Collector with a Deputy Tehsildar and a Sub Registrar as members, according to police sources. Verification of the seized documents will also be long-drawn process as the papers would have to be examined by forensic experts. Sellers and buyers of such lands then would be subjected to intense interrogation. Moreover some of the papers were under the purview of courts which have been approached by the aggrieved parties, the sources added.
