HYDERABAD: Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar has directed officials to prepare a list of ‘enemy properties’ under the Custodian of Enemy Property for India (CEPI) and submit a detailed report by the first week of January. Preliminary estimates indicate there are 234 such properties in the state.
At a meeting with officials from the CEPI office in Mumbai and the state revenue department, the MoS instructed the formation of a separate committee to identify these properties. He stated that after the officials submit their report, the Union government will take further action.
Enemy properties are those left behind by individuals who migrated to China and Pakistan during and after the wars with these countries: The 1962 Sino-Indian war and the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971.
Such properties are classified as “enemy properties” under the Enemy Property Act of 1968. As per the MoS, there are about 13,000 such properties across 21 states and two Union Territories, with an estimated market value running into thousands of crores.
Rangareddy district has most ‘enemy properties’ in state
Sanjay highlighted that under Section 8(A) of the Enemy Property Act, the Union government is empowered to sell these properties. However, many are encroached upon, and some are tied up in legal disputes, he said, instructing the CEPI to establish a special team to inspect records and conduct surveys of these properties.
In Telangana, there are reportedly 234 enemy properties: 180 in Rangareddy, 44 in Hyderabad, seven in Bhadradri Kothagudem and three in Vikarabad districts, the MoS noted. Most of these properties are under encroachment, with buildings constructed on some of the land. Sanjay also pointed out that several prime properties in Hyderabad’s Old City have been encroached upon.
Visit to CFSL
In a related development, Sanjay, along with former MLA NVSS Prabhakar, visited the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), National Forensic Science Laboratory (NFSL) and Central Detective Training Institute (CDTI) in Ramanthapur. CFSL national director SK Jain and Hyderabad in-charge Rajiv Giroti were present during the visit.