A massive land fraud case involving forged government records and an alleged conspiracy to grab nearly 10 acres of high-value government land in Cyberabad has widened, with Telangana Police arresting two more accused linked to the racket.
In the case tied to the illegal sale attempt of government land in Gandipet worth around Rs 1,500 crore, the Cyberabad Police on Sunday confirmed the arrest of Veladi Radhakrishna and his driver Gyara Praveen Kumar, identified as accused numbers 9 and 10.
The accused allegedly created fake Government Orders, fabricated official approvals and forged land-related records to project ownership over government poramboke land and push illegal transactions involving influential buyers and middlemen.
The case was registered at Narsingi Police Station on May 23 based on a complaint filed by Srinivas Reddy, Tahsildar of Gandipet Mandal in Rangareddy district, under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to cheating, forgery and conspiracy.
Fake bureaucracy was at work
Deputy Commissioner of Police C.H. Srinivas said Radhakrishna had earlier worked as an outsourcing employee in the Information Technology & Communication department in the Andhra Pradesh Secretariat between 2006 and 2009.
According to police, he later began exploiting his understanding of government procedures to run fraud operations by falsely promising government jobs, pattadar passbooks, land regularisation orders and succession approvals.
Police said he previously posed as a Deputy Collector and even projected himself as an advocate to gain credibility among victims. In one such case in 2013, he allegedly collected nearly Rs 30 lakh from unemployed youth by promising them government jobs.
Several cheating, forgery and criminal breach of trust cases had already been registered against him in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, investigators added.
Gandipet land became the next target
Police investigation revealed that Radhakrishna later shifted focus towards large-scale land frauds to sustain an expensive lifestyle allegedly funded through earlier scams.
Officials said he built contacts with people claiming rights over Survey No. 18 land in Gandipet village despite fully knowing that the property belonged to the government and carried no valid private ownership rights.
Through his driver, Gyara Praveen Kumar, he allegedly came in contact with Kovvuru Sunil and later developed links with Nimmala Rajesh, Nimmala Venugopal, Nimmala Ramaswamy, Garela Manga and others connected to the disputed land.
Police said Radhakrishna falsely assured prospective buyers, including former YSR Congress Party MLA Bolla Brahma Naidu and his brother Ramesh, that government approvals and regularisation papers could be arranged for the property.
Investigators alleged that huge sums of money were collected from different parties after promises were made to generate legal ownership records for the land.
Former MLA among absconding accused
Police said former YSR Congress Party MLA Bolla Brahma Naidu is among five accused who are currently absconding in the case.
Deputy Commissioner of Police C.H. Srinivas said the investigation is continuing to trace the remaining accused, uncover the complete financial network and identify all individuals involved in the alleged conspiracy.
Forged documents and money trail under scanner
According to the police, Radhakrishna, with the help of an advocate, allegedly fabricated fake Government Orders, forged CCLA proceedings, counterfeit NOCs and other official communication to support the illegal land claims.
Investigators found that Kovvuru Sunil, Karanam Rajesh, Gyara Praveen and Prabhudas allegedly played supporting roles in the operation through financial dealings, document movement and coordination.
Police said the probe has uncovered financial transactions worth nearly Rs 12 crore involving Brahma Naidu, Ramesh and others linked to the land deal.
During searches, police seized five laptops, 12 cheque books, 13 stamps, seven bank passbooks, 10 ATM cards and 31 land-related documents from the arrested accused.