VISAKHAPATNAM: All Opposition parties who extended their support to the YSRC all-party Maha Dharna titled ‘Save Visakhapatnam’ held at GVMC Gandhi Statue on Thursday in unison demanded that the goverment must order for a CBI probe into the land grab allegations in Vizag, issue instead of the SIT inquiry.
“People have no faith on the government’s SIT probe and only CBI can bring out the truth,” said CPI leader AJ Stalin while participating in the dharna.
Reiterating the same, CPM leader Ch Narsinga Rao flayed the TDP government for being a silent spectator to the land irregularities. “Though BJP MLA Vishnukumar Raju raised his voice against the land mafia, the government did not give two hoots. The authorities are claiming that the land records have been tampered with in 19 mandals, but the fact is people in 32 mandals are bearing the brunt of irregularities,” he said.
By the support of the ruling party leaders, benami persons have grabbed huge tracts of land across the district, he said. “If government wants to deliver justice to the victims, it should go for a CBI inquiry immediately,” he demanded, adding that if the YSRC takes up this issue to the national level, the Left Parties would extend their support.
Lok Satta leader Bhisetty Baabji said if the Chief Minister, his party men and his Cabinet colleagues are really innocent, they must come clean.BSP leader Bangarayya said that since the Day One, the local leaders with the support of the party high command are amassing wealth from illegal land deals.
Victims pour out woes
S Ganesh from Govindapuram said that the land grabbers had grabbed land in Mudapaka panchayat limits in the name VUDA Land Pooling Scheme. S Govind from Amalapuram village of Nakkapalli Mandal explained about how their panchayat president, along with 38 benamis had claimed the village hillock area by forging documents in their names. Khader Basha, an ex- servicemen from Gajuwaka said that the 3.5 acres which was sanctioned by the government to him was transferred to another persons’s name and since 2005, he has been fighting for justice. “Even collectorate staff did not responded on my complaint,” he alleged. N Govind belongs to Lankelapalem of Parawada mandal complained that some miscreants had tampered with the land records of a valuable government land in his village. Sekhar from Kothatalaarivanipalem of Anakapalle rural mandal revealed that some real estate developers had occupied land in an extent of 25 acres. “Though I complained, there has been no action,” he added.
SIT chief in city!
Visakhapatnam: Vinit Brijlal, chairman of the government-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe into the land scam in Visakhapatnam has arrived in the city. As per the reliable sources in the district administration, Vinit Brijlal reached the city on Wednesday and started works at the Police mess camp office on the Beach Road. It is learnt that he had summoned some revenue officials deployed in the areas where land grab allegations have been surfaced. As the revenue officials lodged complaints against 29 persons, the SIT chairman is learnt to have inquired about the whereabouts of the accused. Meanwhile, the police officials apparently met the SIT chief. “Very soon, we are going to nab some key players of the land irregularities. We have got some crucial information about this scam,” a senior police official said on the condition of anonymity.
Maha Dharna leads to traffic snarls in city
The all-party Maha Dharna organised by the YSR Congress in the city disrupted the smooth movement of vehicular traffic on Thursday. As many as 10,000 people congregated at the dharna meeting addressed by YSRC chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy at the Gandhi statue near the GVMC, a vital junction in the city. Traffic snarls were seen at majority of the traffic junctions including Asilmetta, Maddilapalem, Gurdwara, Akkayyapalem, Thatichetalpalem, Muralinagar and NAD as people from distant places like three north costal and Godavari districts came to the dharna venue. Though police deployed additional forces to regulate the traffic at vital junctions, commuters faced a lot of difficulty to reach their destinations. Further, in view of the arrival of the Opposition party leaders, the police implemented restrictions on many routes in the peak hours between 9.30 am and 10.30 am, leading to arguments between the motorists and police personnel. After the dharna was over, it took 20 to 30 minutes to clear the traffic. Nearly 1,000 additional police were deployed at various places as part of the security arrangement and traffic management. “We faced troubles as restriction were imposed in the peak hours. In total, it took me nearly half an hour to pass through a few city junctions,” said Kanakaraju, an auto driver from Arilova area.