Ex-HMDA boss favoured BRS leader to convert Vattinagulapally land

Hyderabad: The ACB reportedly arrested Shiva Naveen Kumar, brother of arrested former accused HMDA director Shiva Balakrishna, for acting as his benami. The ACB officials had kept an eye on Kumar’s activities while probing into Balakrishna's disappropriate assets. His arrest could give them new leads in the investigation, an ACB official said.

Meanwhile, sources said Balakrishna had issued several changes of land use (CLU) orders to convert large tracts of agricultural land for non-agricultural use in Vattinagulapally, Rangareddy district, including one for a senior BRS leader in Vattinagulapally.

The order was issued by ignoring major guidelines governing such conversion.

On Tuesday, ACB officials probed some files that were cleared by Balakrishna at the HMDA office in Ameerpet.

Technical scrutiny officers, members of the committee at the Secretariat level and officials and people involved in issuing the CLU orders during Balakrishna’s tenure could face an ACB probe.

There have also been allegations against the accused that in Kokapet, Puppalguda, Narsingi and Manikonda, he had allegedly favoured builders, developers and individuals by giving layout permissions and granting building permissions without following guidelines.

An HMDA official said that the municipal administration and urban development (MA&UD) has scheduled a meeting on Wednesday to review all the files related to the town planning wing and the engineering works in which Balakrishna had a role.

It has been decided that the HMDA will make a report of the CLU orders earlier issued without following guidelines to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.