Ex-government officials get CCS summon on land

Hyderabad: The Central Crime Station (CCS) sleuths probing the Rs 8,000-crore evacuee land allotment scam on Wednesday summoned former IAS official K. Mangapathi Rao, who served as secretary to chief commissioner of land administration in 2003 when the allotment was done. The CCS has arrested two accused and served notice under CrPC Section 160 (person having acquaintance with facts and circumstances of the case), asking Mr Mangapathi Rao to appear on December 15.

Sources said that one Nandakishore, a businessman of Lakshmi Engineering Company, was served notices by the CCS as he had purchased the ‘claim’ of Pakistan evacuee land and the agency wants to ascertain facts from him. CCS investigations so far have found that officials of the chief commissioner of land administration issued orders allotting evacuee land in Puppalguda where an accused, C.R. Laxminarayana, used the forged general power of attorney of the late Bhagwandas Makhija.

Bhagwandas Makhija had died in 1995 but Laxminarayana obtained the GPA in 1996. He was arrested on November 11. The CCS police also arrested one D.K. Jain, 85, a former employee of the evacuee land custodian office at the home ministry, for assisting Laxminarayana. The CCS found that the genuineness of the claimant of evacuee land was not verified by officials of CCLA; the note files only focused on the claim and the process of allotment.  It found that Lakshminarayana had used forged Special Power of Attorney and sold the claim.

A source said, “There is an argument that the claim is a property and transferable. There is another argument that before actual allotment the claim cannot be transferred. As per the Act, the claim has be made within 120 days. In some note files the same was stressed.” When contacted, Mr Mangapathi Rao said, “I am in Odisha. My son has received the notices of the CCS. I will be coming to Hyderabad only by December 20 and will appear before the agency after that.”

He said he had worked in the CCLA for six-and-a-half years including three years as secretary when Arjuna Rao was CCLA. “I was on leave for one month, I don’t know what happened then. I don’t remember exactly. Unless I see the file I can’t recollect it after so many years,’’ he said.