The four-member committee of officers probing into the alleged encroachment of lands belonging to Seetha Rama Swamy temple ar Devarayamjal have begun the exercise of identifying the encroachers using details furnished in documents available with the Panchayat Raj, Municipal, Registration and Electricity authorities.

Municipal authorities also issued notices to the illegal godowns constructed on these lands. On the fifth day of inquiry, the officers are trying to identify the culprits who carried out illegal constructions on the Devaryamjal temple lands in Medchal-Malkajgiri district from the RDO office.

Panchayat Raj Commissioner M Raghunandan Rao, Medchal-Malkajgiri in-charge collector Swetha Mohanty, Mancherial collector Bharathi Holikeri and Nalgonda collector Prashanth Jeevan Patil, interacted with the officials concerned to ascertain the basis for registration of the endowment lands and also for providing electricity connection.

The inquiry resulted in the identification of 160 illegal structures in the endowment lands spread over 1,521 acres in Devarayamjal. The officers will be serving notice to those who own these structures. The officials are also probing into the encroachers of the vacant lands of the temple. They said the investigation is in the final stages.

Meanwhile, there is an increasing demand from the locals to restore the endowment lands belonging to the Devarayamjal temple. They are hopeful that the 1000-year-old temple can be developed further if the endowment lands are returned to the temple.