VIJAYAWADA: Krishna district revenue officials on Friday seized 5.10 acres land, worth over Rs 100 crore (market value) near Madhuranagar railway station in the city, stating that the property was under the illegal possession of former AP Planning Board vice-chairman Cherukuri Kutumba Rao’s family.
According to the officials, Kutumba Rao’s family claimed the ownership in 2018 and reportedly collected Rs 25 lakh from the railway department towards land lease.
District joint collector (JC) Madhavi Latha, who inspected the land along with the tahilsdar and other officials around 2 pm on Friday, instructed them to demolish the compound wall and the shed built on the land. Following her orders, officials swung into action and razed down the shed and erected sign boards proclaiming the land as belonging to State government.
An inquiry conducted into the ownership of the property following a complaint lodged with Krishna district collector A Md Imtiaz during a recent Spandana grievance redressal programme reportedly revealed that the land was under illegal possession. However, Kutumba Rao disputed the government’s claim and said that the land rightfully belonged to him and his family.
“This is nothing but false propaganda to damage my image. When the railways did not pay the compensation amount, we approached the High Court. Following our petition, the High Court gave judgment in our favour and directed the railways to hand over the land to us,” said Kutumba Rao.
‘Kutumba’s family got compensation in 1997’
The dispute over the crores of worth property is several decades old. According to revenue officials, Kutumba Rao’s family gave 5.10 acres to the railways so that they would not lose the ownership of the property under the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act (1976). On March 5, 1977, the Vijayawada railway divisional superintendent had written a letter to the revenue department seeking land on the city outskirts for the construction of staff quarters, electrical training school and other railway-related infrastructure.
Two years later, on November 5, 1979, the revenue department had given its nod to land acquisition from the farmers of Machavaram, which was a village at that time, and give it to the railway department.
The railways had agreed to compensate the owners. After inspecting the location, revenue officials issued Draft Notification (DN) and Draft Declaration (DC) to acquire around 22.19 acres of land near Madhuranagar railway station, which is now part of Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC).
In four phases between 1984 to 1996, revenue officials had acquired 18.58 acres of land and 5.10 acres belonging to the family of Kutumba Rao. While other farmers got compensation, railway officials did not pay the Kutumba Rao’s family, as they failed to submit No Objection Certificate(NOC) from the respective departments.
Claiming that they did not receive compensation, Kutumba Rao’s brothers C Nagendra, C Praveen Kumar and C Pradeep Kumar approached the High Court in 1996 and subsequently court directed the officials to pay the compensation amount in 1997.
“Railway officials clarified in the High Court that the delay in paying the compensation amount to the Kutumba Rao’s family was due to their failure to submit the NOC. But the HC ordered compensation payment,” said a revenue official. However, in 2012, railway officials told the High Court that they did not require the 5.10 acres.
Neither revenue officials nor the government bothered to take the land into their possession as the Kutumba Rao’s family received the compensation amount in 1997 itself. “Bringing pressure on revenue officials, Kutumba Rao’s family managed to take back the land, though they were paid compensation. Instead of handing over the land to the revenue department, the railways gave it to Kutumba Rao’s family,” explained an official.
When TNIE contacted Joint Collector Madhavi Latha said they had taken over the land based on an inquiry conducted by the revenue officials. She said family members of Kutumba Rao violated Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act (1976) to save their surplus lands.
“The land in question is under our possession and trespassers will be prosecuted. Criminal cases have been registered against them for manipulating railway and revenue officials,” Madhavi Latha said.Probe into ownership
A probe was conducted into the ownership of the property following a complaint lodged with district collector during recent Spandana programme