VISAKHAPATNAM: In a major breakthrough in the investigation into the Vizag land scam, a land surveyor has been arrested who, the police say, is a key accused in several irregularities related to 55.3 acres of government land, causing a loss of around `550 crore to the exchequer. GL Ganeswara Rao, who had worked as a land surveyor under various revenue offices in Visakhapatnam district, is now working in Vizianagaram. Acting on a tip off, the police arrested him in Hyderabad on Sunday and brought here.
On the directions of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) looking into the land grab scam, a criminal case was registered against Ganeswara Rao at Arilova police station on July 2 following a complaint lodged by rural tehsildar Bhaskar Reddy related to the lapses pertaining to 55.35 acres of land in Paradesipalem worth `550 crore.
During the investigation, the police also established that he had close association with tainted former tehsildar M Sankar Rao who was suspended and sent to prison on charges of several land irregularities.
“Ganeswara Rao, along with Sankar Rao, had tampered with land records for 53 acres for the benefit of 12 persons. The names of the private persons were incorporated illegally in the 1B register by Sankar Rao, while Ganeswara Rao mediated all the deals,” said SIT reporting officer and city police commissioner T Yoganand here on Monday, while producing the accused before the media.
Police seized 145 pattadar passbooks (90 empty and 55 filled), official stamps, records pertaining to 27 private persons whose names were entered illegally in the 1B register, old deed of MANSAS Trust, Vizianagaram, photocopies of settlement Phasali registers, D-form pattas, survey and settlement registers, 59 empty Maharaja’s pattas, an album containing signatures of former revenue officials who had worked in Visakhapatnam district and other important documents from the house of the driver of Ganeswara Rao. The case was entrusted to Dwaraka sub-division ACP Ramachandra Rao and Arilova CI Tirupathi Rao. The investigation revealed that last year, Ganeswar Rao bribed then tehsildar Sankar Rao with a car and a 3-bedroom flat worth `1 crore to be a party to the corruption.
“Sankar Rao, in his official capacity, entered the names of 12 private persons in the 1B register of Paradesipalem in violation of the ROR Act by bringing the original records to the house of Ganeswar Rao. He had conferred the rights over the government land to private persons, causing a loss of `550 crore to the exchequer. The car bearing the registration number AP 31DD 2752 was purchased in the name of one Satish and Sankar Rao has been using it,” said T Yoganand. Ganeswar Rao, with the support of Sankara Rao and other revenue officials, had tampered with 1B registers pertaining to Madhurawada, Kommadi and PM Palem villages for the benefits of some 30 people, he said.