GUNTUR: Bapatla police on Wednesday arrested eight persons in connection with the encroachment of land registered on the name of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
The police made the arrests after a thorough investigation by a team led by DSP Ravi Shankar Reddy, which confirmed the unauthorised occupation of 9.5 cents of prime land in Nidamarru village.
According to the police, the land was purchased in 2000 by TDP supporter M Harish for the construction of a party office on the name of TDP supremo Naidu as a donation to the party.
The accused allegedly forged documents, and manipulated land records to gain illegal possession of the property. The land scam dates back to 2011 when a woman got the land registered on her name using fake documents.
Following a complaint from the tahsildar, document writer N Narasimha Rao was booked for fraudulent registration.
After serving his sentence, Narasimha Rao allegedly conspired with the land mafia, and facilitated seven fraudulent registrations of the same property over the past 14 years.
The primary accused planned the encroachment, and subsequently sold pieces of the land to unsuspecting buyers. Upon noticing the fraudulent deals, TDP town incharge G Srinivasa Rao lodged a complaint with police on November 1, 2024 as per the directions of MLA Vegesena Narendra Varma.
The police launched an investigation, leading to the arrest of K Satyavedam, B Srinivasa Rao, N Srinivasulu, N Lalitha, K Siva Reddy, U Koteswara Rao, N Sathar Reddy, and N Narasimha Rao.
The accused were remanded to custody when they were produced in court.