Anantapur district collector Kona Sridhar and superintendent of police S.V. Rajasekhar Babu said on Friday that the fake pattadar passbook racket unearthed in the district may have spread its reach to many more mandals. More scams are expected to be unearthed as the investigation proceeds.
The authorities have so far detected fraudulent loans taken by farmers after pledging fake pattadar passbooks in 19 of the district’s 63 mandals. SP Rajasekhar Babu said there are clear indications that the racket has a “wider geographic spread.” So far the police have busted three fake gangs which specialised in producing fake passbooks which were furnished to banks to get loans.
The police have set up a special investigation team (SIT) to detect the roots of the racket. A total of 22 people belonging to three gangs based out of Battalapalli, Singanamala and Kalyandurgam mandals have been arrested so far.
Eleven more suspects are being investigated, according to Mr Babu. The Collector said a total of 1500 fake passbooks have been detected in 19 mandals .
