Representational image. 
Telangana

Officials, developers booked for land fraud

The complainant alleged that the then municipal commissioner M Uma Maheshwar Rao sought a registered gift deed for open spaces and roads as a condition for layout approval.

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Acting on the directions of the Judicial First Class Magistrate (JFCM) court, Zaheerabad police have registered a case against a former municipal commissioner, two sub-registrars and seven others, including real estate developers, in connection with alleged land fraud and illegal registrations. The case follows a complaint by a Hyderabad-based businessman.

According to police, the complainant owns nearly 12 acres of land in Zaheerabad, purchased through registered sale deeds in 2006. In 2018, he entered into a registered Development Agreement-cum-General Power of Attorney with two developers, Narasimha Reddy and Venugopal Sarda, on a 60:40 sharing basis. The agreement barred the developers from transferring any portion of the land without written consent and a separate memorandum identifying individual plots.

The complainant alleged that the then municipal commissioner M Uma Maheshwar Rao sought a registered gift deed for open spaces and roads as a condition for layout approval. He claimed that the developers, in collusion with then sub-registrar Mohd Abdul Hafeez, executed a gift deed in November 2024 without his knowledge, showing themselves as donors despite lacking ownership rights. He further alleged that, despite a Telangana High Court status quo order and pending writ petitions, the developers executed multiple GPAs in 2025 in favour of third parties using fabricated documents.

Based on court directions, police booked the case under relevant provisions of the BNS and BNSS for conspiracy, cheating, forgery and misuse of official authority. Nine persons have been named as accused, and investigation is ongoing.

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