RAJANNA-SIRCILLA: A land grabber, Sunchula Kumara Swamy, from Sarampally village in Thangallapally mandal, who had encroached upon approximately three acres of government land, surrendered it on Tuesday. District Collector Sandeep Kumar Jha and Superintendent of Police (SP) Akhil Mahajan received the land documents.
Speaking to the media, the collector said Kumara Swamy had encroached upon three acres of government land under survey number 464 in Sarampally village and was cultivating it. He urged all government land encroachers to surrender it voluntarily. He said such lands would be used for public welfare: as part of distributing house titles to the poor and constructing Indiramma houses.
He further announced that a demand notice would be issued to recover benefits provided under government schemes like Rythu Bandhu and PM Kisan from those who had encroached on land between 2018 and 2023. He revealed that about 250 acres of government land had been reclaimed in the district so far and added that the process of identifying encroached government lands was ongoing.
Before handing over the land, Kumara Swamy had written to the district collector admitting to the encroachment. He claimed that revenue authorities had demanded a bribe of Rs 2.5 lakh to issue a pattadar passbook, which he refused to pay. Consequently, the passbook was not issued. Kumara Swamy requested the district administration to ensure justice, stating that he had no other source of income and depended solely on the land.