In the latest development in the CID investigation into the alleged Amaravati land scam, Andhra CID has written to the Income Tax Department to look into suspicious cash transactions done while purchasing land. The letter from the CID states that examination of suspicious land registrations from 2018 and 2019 revealed that most of the transactions had been done in cash, in amounts above Rs 2 lakh.
Andhra Pradesh CID had earlier asked the Enforcement Directorate to begin probe into the alleged insider land dealings while the boundaries of the state capital Amaravati were being drawn up in 2015. The CID said that the definition of the capital area boundary was done in such a way that it benefited a few holding lands on the fringe.
Earlier in January, the CID had found that several white ration card holders - people below poverty line - had purchased lands worth more than Rs 200 crore in the Amaravati region during 2014 and 2015. Additional Director General of Police (CID) PV Sunil Kumar has written to officials of the Income Tax Department and the Enforcement Directorate detailing the findings of the investigation, seeking probes against those involved in the transactions. Sunil Kumar said that the CID has verified with the I-T Department regarding the crores of rupees spent on the transactions, and it was revealed that the people involved had never filed I-T returns.
The CID has now requested the I-T Department to carry out inquiries to ascertain whether the persons in question have violated the provision of I-T Act.
The CID investigation had revealed that 797 white ration cardholders with less than Rs 5,000 monthly income had purchased lands of about 700 acres and indulged in financial transactions worth more than Rs 200 crore according to the certified value. Out of these 797 people, the CID found that 529 did not have a PAN card.
The CID investigation was carried out based on a complaint filed in November 2019 by a woman from Thullur mandal belonging to a Scheduled Caste. The complainant had claimed that a Telugu Desam Party leader from their village, Bellamkonda Narasimha Rao, had occupied their land by force, and cheated them by creating false land records with the support of former TDP ministers Prathipati Pulla Rao and P Narayana. The CID has already booked cases against the two former ministers.