SURYAPET: A land records scam, involving at least 21 persons, has been uncovered in Mothey mandal. The racket involved 11 fabricated Pahani records and passbooks, illegally covering 27 acres of land across Mothey mandal. A case under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) has been registered. Along with local data operators and farmers, several government staffers and officials have also been accused of perpetrating the fraud.
The scam was allegedly masterminded by A Mallesh, owner of a Mee Seva centre, who exploited farmers by charging them to fraudulently update land records on the government’s Dharani portal. Mallesh collaborated with Decherla Kondal Rao, a local fraudster specialising in forging Pahani documents, and Kota Stalin Kumar Reddy, a photocopying shop operator, to produce counterfeit land passbooks, the police said, adding that these fake documents were then uploaded to the official system with the help of former officials.
Current Mothey tahsildar Bashapaka Srikanth flagged the collusion between former employees of the tahsildar’s office and private actors to manipulate land records for illegal ownership claims. The accused officials and staffers have been identified as former Mothey tahsildar K Sanghamitra, former revenue inspectors M Ajay Kumar, SK Mansoor Ali and J Nirmala Devi, and G Nagaraju, a computer operator at the former tahsildar’s office.
Seven arrested
The scam came to light on March 4 during a routine inspection by the Suryapet collector and RDO officials. They found discrepancies in the land record files and lodged a complaint with the police. To date, seven suspects have been arrested, including former tahsildar Sanghamitra, Mee Seva centre operator Mallesh, and photocopy shop operator Stalin Kumar Reddy. The police are pursuing the remaining 14 accused, including farmers who allegedly conspired to obtain fake documents. A total of 11 farmers have been identified as beneficiaries of the scam.
Authorities have urged residents to report suspicious land record activity, particularly unauthorised offers to “update” documents for a fee.
Came to light on March 4
The scam came to light on March 4 during a routine inspection by the Suryapet collector and RDO officials. They found discrepancies in the land record files and lodged a complaint with the police. While seven persons have been arrested, the cops are pursuing the remaining 14 accused, including farmers who allegedly conspired to obtain fake documents.