Enforcement Directorate attaches land in Vanpic case

Hyderabad: Finally, the Enforcement Directorate has taken possession of the controversial lands of the Vadrevu and Nizampatnam Industrial Corridor, which were found to be an illegal asset in the quid pro quo case of Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, YSRC chief, and Nimmagadda Prasad, an industrialist.

Boards were put up at Motupalli, Vetapalem, China Ganjam, Nayinipalli and Pullaripalem villages. Lands near Vetapalem were fertile and at some places, smaller farmers have been raising crops occasionally although they had given away the lands to the government when acquisition had taken place.

The additional director of ED, Hyderabad, took possession of 1,386 acres of land stating that the land was seized as per the provisions of Section 8(4) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. Notices were issued on August 18 last year (NOC no. 276/2014) and PMLA officers have ratified the possession of lands, it was mentioned in the boards.

The ED is in the process of attaching another 250 acres in the Vanpic belt, revenue ministry sources said. This is one of the biggest seizures by ED so far. Now, farmers who have been farming the lands despite giving them to the Vanpic, are worried about their future. “The port has not come up. No industry has been set up.

The issue has been stuck in courts and has turned political. We don’t know what the government will do. The ED has put up boards in our lands,” they said. Revenue officials in Hyderabad however, said since the farmers have already been paid compensation of Rs 3 lakh per acre, there is no question of giving back land. “It is a closed chapter and if they are farming in the same lands, it is a different matter. Since nothing has come up so far, they are doing so. Once some industrial activity from the government side starts, eventually, they have to stop,” sources in the department said.