HYDERABAD: When local residents danced in jubilation amidst bursting of firecrackers, one would have thought that Deepavali had arrived quite early in Talakondapally.
But the folks of this sleepy village in Rangareddy district were celebrating the arrest of a “corrupt” Mandal Revenue Officer (MRO).
As soon as the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) caught MRO B Nagarjuna red-handed while accepting a bribe and arrested him, the villagers gathered at the MRO office. They, in fact, started celebrating even as the ACB officials were still inside, completing the formalities of taking the MRO into custody.
When TNIE reached out to the residents to understand the reasons behind their celebrations, they made startling allegations against the tainted officer, who was caught accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 to register 22 guntas of agricultural land — originally in the name of the complainant’s mother — in the names of the complainant, his brothers and sons.
The locals alleged that the MRO fixed a ‘rate card’ for various services and amassed wealth worth crores. They also demanded that an inquiry be ordered to find out how he amassed so much wealth.
Santhosh, one of the victims of the MRO, narrated how he was harassed by the ‘corrupt’ official when he tried to sell his land. “Land belonging to my parents, initially on the prohibited list, was cleared by the courts. But the MRO, claiming it was still in the prohibited list, didn’t allow us to sell it. He demanded Rs 10 lakh but settled for a Rs 2 lakh bribe to allow us to sell the land,” he said.
“I initially planned to approach ACB but decided against it as I was afraid that the land transaction would be delayed further,” he added. Former ZPTC member Uppala Venkatesh, meanwhile, said that he knew about at least 50 cases in which the MRO demanded and accepted bribes.
“When I brought the land issues to the notice of higher authorities, Nagarjuna would assure them that he would do the work. But later he would again demand money,” he added. He said it has been just six months since Nagarjuna was posted as an MRO in Talakondapally, and farmers are already vexed with his “corrupt” practices.
Another resident, Jayanth, alleged that the MRO had demanded Rs 25,000 for a transaction related to just two guntas of Guddi Venkatamma. He added that the poor elderly person had to borrow money to get the land transferred.