Officials swindle Rs 1.15 cr. of compensation amount for lands acquired for NH -363

The ACB personnel have intensified their investigation into the fraud and took into custody revenue officials and their kin, who were involved in the irregularities.

They registered cases against seven persons, including the revenue divisional officer (RDO), after finding that nearly `1.15 crore meant for payment of compensation were diverted into bank accounts of family members of government officials involved in the payment of compensation and land acquisition for laying the four-lane national highway.

Till date, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has paid `80 crore as compensation for the lands that were acquired for the purpose.

RDO Sidam Dattu has been named as the prime accused (A1) and the deputy tahsildar Mesram Nagorao as A2 in the ACB remand report.

The ACB filed cases against the accused on May 1.

Reportedly, some farmers received meagre amounts for their lands, while some with less land got better compensation.

ACB officials collected names of land owners from whom the land was acquired and the compensation paid to them. Subsequently, they conducted an inquiry into it and found the irregularities.

The issue came to light when some locals lodged a complaint with the ACB about irregularities in the payment of compensation. An ACB team, led by DSP Ramana Murthy, conducted raids on the RDO office in Asifabad and seized incriminating documents on April 24.

According to sources, around 320 hectares of land was acquired for laying the 54-km four-lane NH from Repallewada in Rebbena mandal to Goyagaon village of Wankidi mandal.

Others arrested by the ACB included realtors T. Laxminarayana and Subba Shambudas and J. Bharat (mandal surveyor presently posted in Hyderabad). Meanwhile, Porala Tirupathi and Kavalkar Tarabai of Asifabad are absconding.

The officials found that `65 lakh was diverted into Dattu’s mother's account and `30 lakh into Nagorao’s brother's bank account.