ELURU: In a shocking revelation, a State minister on Saturday said he was offered a “suitcase” (read bribe) by some persons to turn a blind eye towards the plots (venture) they were coming up with. The minister, who refused the suitcase, ordered an inquiry, during which it was came to light that the venture developers had encroached upon government land worth crores.
Deputy Chief Minister and Medical and Health Minister Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas (Nani) said this during a review of Eluru Municipal Corporation. The minister minced no words to express his anger over the laxity of officials in controlling encroachments on government lands.
“One individual came to me and offered a suitcase with money and requested me not to raise objections to the plots made in land. I asked him to take away the suitcase and ordered an inquiry. It came to our notice that the person had encroached upon 1.88 acres of government land and divided it into plots,’’ the minister said.
The Town Planning officials, who conducted a survey on the lands, found that the individual made plots in the government land which was adjacent to his land, the minister said. Nani said he would take up the issue with Municipal Administration Minister Botcha Satyanarayana and request him to order a vigilance inquiry into the encroached lands in the corporation limits.
He also said that the government would not hesitate to take action against officials who fail to take action against encroachments. He also alleged that several corporators have constructed shopping complexes on government land and asked officials to demolish them immediately. “In one of the wards, a YSRC leader himself had constructed a building on encroached government land and we will demolish that building too,’’ he said.