Tirupati: Land grab is a thriving business in Chittoor district, especially in and around Tirupati city, with musclemen minting millions by grabbing and "selling" precious chunks of both private and state lands.
Opposition parties are pointing an accusing finger at the state government for its failure to take effective action to stem the trend. They demand the start of an anti-encroachment drive by police to retrieve the illegally occupied lands.
Land grabbers from neighbouring districts like Kadapa, Anantapur, Kurnool and Nellore are eying precious lands, especially those on the outskirts of Tirupati, Renigunta, Chandragiri, Yerpedu, Srikalahasti, Madanapalle and Chittoor.
In the past few years, there have been instances of anti-social elements, often armed, involved in land-grab by threatening the land owners who possess valid documents. There are also cases wherein land grabbers used fabricated documents to get government and private lands transferred in their names.
The Madanapalle police recently registered cases against five revenue employees including three tehsildars and two deputy tehsildars for their involvement in the transfer of government lands to private entities based on fictitious documents.
Based on a complaint lodged by Tehsildar Srinivasulu, police registered cases against previous tehsildars Sivarami Reddy, Rama Devi and Suresh Babu and two other deputy tehsildars Srinivasulu and Sayed Ahmed.
Even the poor Shikari (Nakkala) people are currently living in of land grabbers eying their DKT lands in Audi Maratapuram of Chintalapalem in Yerpedu mandal. The shikari welfare association’s organising secretary for Nellore and Chittoor districts Dabba Parasunath said they are facing threats from gangs trying to grab their land over 560 acres. He urged the government to protect their lands from encroachments.
There are also instances of land owners complaining to the Tirupati Urban Police on encroachment of their lands. With investigations into more cases reportedly revealing links to some YSRC leaders, city MLA Bhumana Reddy has warned gangs and asked the police department and the government to initiate stern action against them.
"We won’t tolerate land grab activities by misusing some of our names or by posing as YSRC supporters. We have appealed to the police to not spare unlawful elements,” the MLA said.
In a similar case, when a ruling party corporator faced allegations of land grab, the MLA asked civic commissioner Girisha to take stern action against him if there was any wrongdoing.
Points:
- Professional land grabbers from neighbouring districts as also anti-social elements eye precious state and private lands.
- Land grabbers using fictitious documents to get government and private lands transferred in their names.
- Investigations into land grab cases in Tirupati reveal links to some YSRC leaders; MLA Bhumana warns of tough action.
