TS blocks auction of lands in Kothwalguda

The Telangana government has decided to block the auction of lands in the Kothwalguda village of Shamshabad mandal on the outskirts of Hyderabad city after unearthing a massive land scam.

Some individuals registered the entire village, spanning over 1,832 acres, under their own names using forged documents. They secured loans of nearly `332 crore by mortgaging the lands to PEC Limited, a government enterprise under Union ministry of commerce and industry, in May 2014.

When the individuals defaulted on the repayment of the loans, PEC Ltd wrote to the state government stating that it planned to auction the land to recover the pending dues, which amounted to `650 crore with interest. It sought to find out whether any government lands or disputed lands were included in the parcel mortgaged to it.

That was when the land scam came to light. The state government ordered the revenue department to look into the issue and submit a report.

Upon conducting an inquiry, the revenue department found that the land continued to be owned by the locals, as per the official records, and that the documents submitted to take out the loans were fake.

It found that the individuals had used the “anywhere registration” facility introduced by the Congress government. The lands in question fall within the jurisdiction of the Shamshabad sub-registrar, but the fraudsters had their documents registered at the LB Nagar sub-registrar office. Officials there did not bother to find how an individual could own an entire village while registering the lands.

The state government has decided to write to PEC Ltd about the land fraud that took place before the formation of Telangana state in June 2014 and to convey its decision to disallow the auction.

Mohd Mahmood Ali, the Deputy CM and revenue minister, has asked the department of stamps and registration to immediately cancel the illegal registration done in May 2014.

The villagers of Kothwalguda have launched an agitation demanding action against the land grabbers who mortgaged their entire village without their knowledge and the revenue officials who assisted them.