HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court has directed the Director General of Police (DGP) to entrust the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CBCID) with a comprehensive inquiry into the alleged large-scale encroachment of government land in Survey No. 126 of Injapur village, Abdullapurmet mandal, Rangareddy district, and submit a report within three months.
Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka passed the order while disposing of a writ petition filed by Chandramohan Reddy Somireddy, who alleged illegal occupation and sale of government land, manipulation of land records and official collusion in permitting unauthorised constructions.
The petitioner alleged that despite repeated representations regarding encroachments over 74 acres and 16 guntas of government land recorded as “Sarkari” and notified as Dilavarkhan Cheruvu, the authorities failed to act. He also alleged fraudulent alteration of layout records, deletion of approved gram panchayat layouts and removal of park and open-space reservations.
The court found the district collector’s counter affidavit inadequate, observing that while it acknowledged extensive occupation of the land by various entities, it failed to explain the legal basis for such occupation or identify those responsible. Instead, it focused on allegations against the petitioner while remaining silent on the larger issue of encroachment of government land.
Justice Bheemapaka observed that the material on record indicated apparent collusion by public officials in shielding encroachers and that the state machinery had failed to protect valuable government property, resulting in loss to the public exchequer.
While declining to order a CBI probe, the court held that the facts warranted an independent CBCID investigation to ascertain the truth and fix accountability.
The court also directed the principal secretary, Revenue department, to initiate disciplinary proceedings against officials who failed to prevent the encroachments, particularly the tahsildar and the grama palana officer, and submit a compliance report within four weeks.