P. Vishnu Kumar Raju, Visakhapatnam north MLA and BJP floor leader in the Assembly, has demanded that a House committee be constituted to inquire into the alleged acquisition of nearly 1,000 acres of assigned land in Visakhapatnam district through fraudulent means and offering it to Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) for takeover under the Land Pooling Scheme (LPS).
However, while saying that criminal cases were registered in Pendurthi and other police stations against the accused, Municipal Administration Minister P. Narayana remained non-committal on the member’s demand for constitution of a House committee.
Taking the issue to the notice of the Assembly in the form of a short notice question on Monday, Mr. Raju said some individuals grabbed the assigned land at different places after entering into agreements with the gullible public in Pendurthi and other mandals of Visakhapatnam district for ₹10 lakh a piece by paying them an advance of ₹1 lakh in each illegal transaction and promising to remit the balance at a later stage. Sarpanches were given brokerage charges of ₹2 lakh each to prevail on the landowners to part with their holdings with the promise to give about 1200 square yards per acre under the LPS. Mr. Raju said the innocent people were made to submit letters of consent to give their land under the LPS to the VUDA. These things happened two months before the VUDA issued a notification proposing to acquire land for its development projects through LPS whereas under the A.P. Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Act 9 of 1977, the assigned land could neither be purchased nor sold.
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But, the agreements were executed by the vested interests and the title deeds kept in their possession. Cases under SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act were being booked on those refusing to give their land and trying to expose the scandal, the BJP MLA complained.