The Cyberabad police unearthed a massive scam on Sunday worth more than Rs 500 crore, and arrested the Kukatpally sub-registrar in Hyderabad, along with the directors of two private companies.
According to the police, sub-registrar Rachakonda Srinivasa Rao had fraudulently transferred government land, spread out over 693 acres, to the two companies, which resulted in a Rs 587 crore loss for the state government.
The police said that the other two accused have been identified as Parthasarathi from Trinity Infra Ventures directors and PVS Sharma from Suvishal Power.
The Times of India reported that the incident came to light after Medchal district registrar N Saidi Reddy lodged a complaint at the Kukatpally police station, stating that Parthasarathi executed four registration deeds in favour of Sharma, while the survey numbers suggested that they belonged to the government.
The police quoted a memo from 2007, issued by the Deputy Collector of Serilingampally, which clearly stated that the land in Miyapur village belonged to the state.
“There were many legal disputes going on in court regarding this land. In 2011, the deputy collector wrote to the sub-registrar again, stating that the land belonged to the government. Parthasarathi and others obtained a General Power of Attorney (GPA) from the petitioners, and executed a deed in favour of Suvishal Power Gen Ltd," Madhapur DCP Vishwa Prasad was quoted as saying.
On investigation this week, it was found that Srinivas Rao allegedly registered the land and helped the duo, in exchange for large bribes.
The police also accused Srinivasa Rao of exploiting loopholes, and paying only Rs 65 lakh as stamp duty on the purchase of 693 acres.
The police registered a case under sections of the IPC dealing with criminal breach of trust, cheating, fraud, forgery and criminal conspiracy against the accused.
“Based on the prima facie evidence, the three accused were taken into custody on Saturday, their houses searched and documents pertaining to the case seized,” the police said.
The accused are now in judicial custody.