VIJAYAWADA: Former Gannavaram MLA and YSRCP leader Vallabhaneni Vamsi Mohan was remanded to judicial custody for two weeks until May 29 in connection with a fake land patta case registered at Hanuman Junction police station.
Along with Vamsi, his close aide Olupalli Mohan Ranga was also arrested and produced in court on Friday.
The arrests followed a Prisoner in Transit (PT) warrant issued by the Nuzvid court to Hanuman Junction police on Thursday. Vamsi was apprehended from the Vijayawada Nuzvid Second Additional Junior Civil Court on Friday morning and brought before the court. After hearing arguments from the public prosecutor, Judge Sravani remanded Vamsi and Ranga to 14 days of judicial custody.
Sources indicate that Hanuman Junction police may seek Vamsi’s custody for further questioning regarding the 2019 case, in which he and others were accused of distributing counterfeit house pattas during elections. The issue surfaced when Muppalaneni Ravi Kumar filed a complaint with election returning officers against Vamsi.
Subsequently, a complaint by the then Bapulapadu Tahsildar alleged that Vamsi and his followers forged the signature of the previous tahsildar and distributed fake land pattas in Perikeedu, Koyyuru, Kodurupadu, and Bapulapadu villages to garner votes. Following this, Hanuman Junction police registered a case and directed revenue officials to conduct a departmental inquiry.
Meanwhile, the CID court in Vijayawada granted bail to Vamsi in another case on Friday. However, his release was stalled by the Nuzvid court’s fresh 14-day remand order.
In a separate development, a new case was registered against Vamsi based on a complaint by the AP Mineral Development Corporation Limited (APMDC) assistant director. The complaint alleges that Vamsi and others committed financial irregularities amounting to Rs 100 crore through illegal mining in Gannavaram during the previous YSRC regime.
Gannavaram police are expected to seek a PT warrant and custody petition to proceed with the investigation.