Cracking the whip on collusion of revenue officials in some persons getting government land registered, Collector Pravin Kumar recommended suspension of Visakhapatnam rural tahsildar and announced the suspension of the deputy tahsildar and a village revenue assistant.
The action came after an inquiry by the Joint Collector II and involved 36 acres of government land at the upmarket Rushikonda in Visakhapatnam rural mandal in survey nos. 35/1, 38/1, and 2,3,4,5,6,7 and 8. Giving details at a press conference on Wednesday, Mr. Pravin Kumar said some persons created a litigation and based on a fake endorsement created that it was not government land went to the high court, got a direction to the sub-registrar and got the land registered in their names.
“However, under Section 26 (K) of the Registration Act the Collector can resume the land based on due process to be carried out by the tahsildar and it would be done,” Mr. Pravin Kumar said. The same land was resumed earlier too.
The tahsildar, Sankar Rao’s suspension was recommended to the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration as he tampered with the records including it in red ink in fasli 1419 (a government document). Deputy Tahsildar T. Shyam Prasad, custodian of the records, and village revenue assistant, who was in charge of record room, B. Appa Rao would be placed under suspension, the Collector said.
The land at Rushikonda has been proposed for alienation to GITAM University and is now under the possession of the government.
Mr. Pravin Kumar said the entire process was carried out in the names of Dali Naidu and Anil Kumar of Vizianagaram and an investigation was being carried out to zero in on the masterminds behind it.
Assigned land
In another case involving 2.6 acres of land in Survey 367/1 of Madhurawada, at a prime location close to the highway, an additional survey number was created on the basis of a settlement patta allegedly issued in 1976. The total land there was 9.27 acres.
It was assigned land in which transfer was not allowed. But a layout was created.
Mr. Pravin Kumar said the tahsildar was asked to act on the basis of Prohibition of Transfer Act. GVMC was asked to re-examine the building permission issued and criminal action would be taken against those who created a settlement patta as it was not issued by the settlement officer, the Joint collector. VUDA was asked to construct a compound wall.
In the Vemulavalasa land issue where it was alleged that government land was shown as security, the tahsildar had submitted his report and it would be examined. The details in Webland, the government portal, also have to be corrected in some cases, he said.
Mr. Pravin Kumar, who has been firm in acting on fraud in land-related issues about five to six cases were being looked into and not even a cent of government land would be allowed to be lost and Revenue officials would not be spared if there was any collusion.
