VIJAYAWADA/VISAKHAPANTAM : Unfazed by the insistent demand for CBI probe into Visakhapatnam land scam by the Opposition YSRC, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has stuck to his guns that SIT will do a better job in bringing the guilty to justice.Replying to a question at a news conference at the Secretariat at Velagapudi near here on Monday, the chief minister said: “I want to take action against the culprits at the earliest. If the scam is entrusted to the CBI it would take two decades for the completion of the investigation. You give me evidence today, I will take action tomorrow.”
He refused to reveal the names of those involved in the scam but said that he would take stringent action against all those involved in it regardless of their stature and station. He, however ,said land records pertaining to 276 acres had been tampered with but not transactions were done son far in respect of the lands in question.
When pointed out that the demand for CBI inquiry came from his minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao himself, whose naming is doing rounds in the land scam, the Chief Minister shot back: “I do not order CBI inquiry just because a minister asks for it. I will do it if only the case is fit for CBI probe.”
He alleged that Opposition parties attempted to harm the interests of the state by disturbing the CII Partnership Summit in the name of protest for Special Category Status (SCS).
“The opposition party said they would fight with spirit of jallikattu movement. Where has the spirit gone now?,” he asked
Meanwhile, in Visakhapntam, a day after the constitution of SIT led by former CBI DIG Vineet Brijlal to probe the land scam, police booked cases against 29 persons who have allegedly tampered with the records pertaining to land at Kommadi and Madhurawada villages, on Monday.
The revenue officials lodged police complaints against 30 persons including Mandal Revenue Officer Sankara Rao, alleging land irregularities in Kommadi and Madhurawada villages in Visakhapatnam Rural mandal. Sankara Rao have already been found guilty of tampering with land records, Visakhapatnam (Rural) Revenue Officer Bhaskar Reddy lodged the complaints at Arilova police station.
According to police, among the 30 accused, 10 persons are facing charges of resorting to land irregularities reported from Kommadi, while the rest are accused of tampering with the records pertaining to land in Madhurawada.
According to the officials, revenue records related to 270.54 acres belonging to Government and Forest Department have been found to have tampered with. “After receiving complaints from Visakhapatnam (Rural) MRO, we have registered cases. Now, we will collect evidences,” Arilova CI Tirupathi Rao told Express.Meanwhile, the officials said that as Joint Collector G Srijana, who has been appointed as a member of the SIT, went on a vacation it will take a while to start the SIT probe.
ACB raids sub-registrar’s house
Visakhapatnam: ACB sleuths on Monday raided houses and other properties of Gajuwaka sub-registrar Doddapaneni Venkaiah Naidu (55) on charges of amassing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income. The officer was arrested. As per the ACB officials, assets worth `6 crore were seized the approximate present market value of which would be around `70 crore to `80 crore. The ACB also suspects that the tainted officer might have played a major role in the land scam in Visakhapatnam.