Visakhapatnam: Government official held in Rs 3,600-crore government land scam

Visakhapatnam: Nearly a month into the investigation of the multi-crore land scam, the city police on Monday arrested G.L. Ganeswara Rao, the Inspector of Survey of the Rural Tahsildar’s Office, in Hyderabad.

Rao had been absconding since seven weeks. He is the second accused named in the case filed at Arilova police station on July 2 based on a complaint by tahsildar S. Bhaskar Reddy. Rao, in connivance with former tahsildar M. Sankara Rao who has also been arrested, tampered with land records at Madhurawada, Pardesipalem and PM Palem to alienate about 356 acres of government land worth Rs 3,600 crore.

Vizag police chief T. Yoganand said that a case had been booked for tampering with land records. He added that 38 persons had been identified, under whose names the surveyor had tampered with the records. Rao also tampered with the records of 55 acres in Pardesipalem, under the names of 12 persons. Mr Yoganand said that under case number 203/17, the records of 18 acres of land had been tampered with to benefit five persons. After arresting Rao, the police seized 145 pattadar passbooks, 90 of which were empty and 55 of which were filled, records pertaining to 27 persons whose names were incorporated in the registers, the old trust deed of the Manasa Trust, D-form pattas, the survey and settlement register, 59 empty pattas, 40 title deeds, 30 empty house allotment pattas and an album containing the signatures of revenue officials who worked in the district, along with details of their tenure and some documents. The documents were recovered from the house of Rao's driver G. Srinivasa Rao in Aganampudi, Mr Yoganand said.