Three arrested in forged-land document scam involving Telangana State Archives and Research Institute

Three, including a suspended employee of the Telangana State Archives and Research Institute, were arrested by the Osmania University police on October 17 for forging documents and helping grab 83 acres of land, estimated to be worth hundreds of crores of rupees.

The arrested individuals include B. Sivaramakrishna, Managing Partner of Sree Venkateshwara Estates, Kothinti Chandrasekhar, Record Assistant at the Telangana State Archives and Maragoni Lingamaiah, a realtor, who allegedly conspired to forge land records and present them in a civil dispute to obtain favourable court orders regarding ownership of the land.

The arrest followed a complaint by Zareena Parveen, Director, Telangana State Archives and Research Institute on August 9 in which she cited K. Chandra Sekhar as solely responsible for issuing the fake land documents pertaining to 83 acres of land in Raidurgam, 10 acres of land in Yacharam mandal in Ibrahimpatnam and a fake farman to miscreant applicants following a detailed internal enquiry.

The key document involved in the scam is a forged sale deed dated 15 Aban 1259 Hijri (October 9, 1843) and a Sethwar related to survey number 46 of Raidurg Paigah village. However, the Archives Department clarified that they do not hold any records as Sethwars nor do they issue sale deeds of private estates.

Based on the forged documents issued by the department portraying the lands as private property, the Telangana High Court passed a judgement in favour of the land grabbers. Further, the Telangana government approached the Supreme Court of India to regain its rightful claim to the land.

Published - October 23, 2024 08:22 am IST