Hyderabad: BRS legislator and former minister Ch. Malla Reddy and his associates were booked under IPC sections of cheating and sections of the SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by the Shamirpet police for allegedly cheating a farmer for acquiring his 47.45 acres in Keshavaram village of Muduchintalapalli mandal of Medchal Malkajgiri district.
According to the complainant, 74-year-old Bikshapathi Kethavanath, the incident took place on November 18 when a few middlemen approached him and his family members on the pretext of helping them get passbooks for their land.
The complainant and eight of his family members, who co-owned the land parcel, were taken to the MRO’s office and asked to sign some documents for the passbook. As none of them were educated, they did not know they were being cheated, it was alleged.
Bikshapathi said the land, on survey numbers 33, 34 and 35, was his family’s ancestral property, which was passed on to his mother, Raji, on November 3.
Ramesh Kethavanath, Bikshapathi’s grandson, said: “My grandfather and my family members were working on the fields when the middlemen approached them saying ‘Mee bhumi mekay vastadi (you will continue to own your land)’, assuring them they would help them get their new passbooks. They took them to MRO office and got their signatures done. None of them are educated.”
Identifying the mediators as Srinivas Reddy, Harimohan Reddy, Madhukar Reddy, Shivudu, Sneha Ramireddy, Lakshmamma and Rami Reddy, he said they and Malla Reddy treated the family members and gave them Rs 3 lakh each after the visit to the MRO office, without stating any reason.
“On December 6, we were shocked when we came to know that Malla Reddy had acquired 29.45 acres by cheating my family members. We are helpless as the police are not cooperating with us and so far, no action has been taken against Malla Reddy and his associates,” Ramesh said.
Malreddy Niranjan Reddy, Shamirpet police inspector, said that based on Bikshapathi’s complaint, an FIR was registered on December 6 under Section 420 of the IPC and Clause 3(1)G of the SC&ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
“We are investigating the incident,” he said.
