JANGAON: Revenue authorities in Jangaon district have begun issuing recovery notices to farmers within a week of the Bhu Bharati challan scam coming to light, only to meet strong resistance from villagers who insist they are victims of the fraud, not its beneficiaries.
Officials, with assistance from the police, attempted to serve notices at farmers’ residences in Jangaon mandal on Monday, asking them to pay stamp duty differentials and regularise land documents. The move was met with anger, with farmers refusing to accept the notices and questioning why they were being held accountable for irregularities allegedly committed by brokers and intermediaries.
Raghu, a farmer from Jangaon mandal, was among those who declined to receive the notice. In all, about 44 applicants in the district are learnt to have been identified for recovery action.
The scam came to light last Wednesday following a complaint by the Jangaon Mandal Revenue Officer. Subsequent investigations into transactions routed through MeeSeva and private online centres revealed large-scale misappropriation, details of which surfaced on social media and news platforms.
On Monday, police detained several MeeSeva and online centre operators for questioning. Sources said hundreds of suspicious Bhu Bharati challan transactions were detected across Medak, Nalgonda and Rangareddy districts, with about six suspects currently in custody. There are also allegations that staff linked to the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration were involved in the fraud, which is said to run into crores of rupees and caused major revenue loss to the government.
In Jangaon town alone, around 44 applicants had carried out land transactions through MeeSeva and online centres. While revenue officials moved to serve notices on these applicants, farmers remained unwilling to receive them.
Jangaon Mandal Revenue Officer I Hussain told TNIE that notices were issued to applicants who had paid less than the required government fee during land transactions through online platforms. “On Monday, we served 10 notices. The notices mention the deficient amount paid to the government and ask applicants to pay the balance for the regularisation of the transactions,” he said.