VIJAYAWADA: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), which initiated questioning retired sub-registrar Lala Bala Naga Dharma Singh alias Singh pertaining to his two-page complaint letter, is likely to register an FIR against the persons mentioned in it.
It may be recalled that the letter purportedly released by Singh, addressed to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, and HRD and IT Minister Nara Lokesh, and brought the alleged land registration scam to light, which prompted both the Stamps and Registration Department, and the ACB to carry out a preliminary investigation into the matter.
In the letter, Singh alleged that several persons close to former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, forced and threatened him to register lands located in Ibrahimpatnam mandal, which falls under 22A category, on the names of Cheemakurthi Srikanth, and his wife Vanam Divya alias Rithu Chowdary.
He also alleged that they conspired and got a disproportionate assets case registered against him by the ACB, when he failed to yield to their pressure. Two days after the letter went viral on the social media platforms, the Registration Department conducted an inquiry, and found that as many as 45 registrations were done on the name of Srikanth, and two on the name of Rithu Chowdary. It is learnt that the Registration Department has submitted the preliminary investigation report to both the government and the ACB.
“As much as 20 acres of agricultural land, and 20,000 square yards of residential and commercial land located in various places across the State were registered on the name of Srikanth, while Rithu Chowdary got 400 square yards of land on her name. It is being investigated whether the land belongs to freehold or general category.
“We are also probing irregularities in other registrations to check whether there are any lapses,” said a senior official of the Registration Department on the condition of anonymity. The entire land transactions are being scrutinised in the CARD (Computer Aided Administration of Registration Department) to verify the registrations made on the names mentioned in Singh’s letter.
“The investigation agency is yet to respond to the Registration Department’s report. Based on the inputs, we will provide further information pertaining to the case,” the official added.
On the other hand, the ACB officials reportedly questioned Singh, who was taken into their custody from Vijayawada jail, and collected crucial information from him pertaining to the role of others involved in the alleged land scam.
During the questioning, the ACB officials reportedly sought the details of others involved in the irregularities, such as the role of Rithu Chowdary, Srikanth’s father, Jagan’s personal secretary K Nageswara Rao, and brother YS Sunil Reddy.