Bacharam Land Scam And The Brutal Murder Of Abdullapurmet Tahsildar

HYDERABAD: The Tahsildar office in Abdullapurmet reopened today on November 28th,2019 after the officials performed Puja and resumed their duties, 24 days after the death of the previous tahsildar K Vijaya Reddy.

K Venkat Reddy who took charge as the new tahsildar on November 23, has a lot to deal with on hand right now. The gruesome murder of his predecessor Vijaya Reddy has led to the opening of dubious land deals in the areas surrounding the Abdullapurmet tahsil office in Ranga Reddy district, located close to the city of Hyderabad.

Abdullapurmet tahsil office was set up recently in the year 2016 and Vijaya Reddy was the first Tahsildar after the office was opened. On the fateful day of November 4th, 2019 Vijaya Reddy was burnt alive by one Kurra Suresh, who had allegedly poured an inflammable liquid on her and set her on fire. Accused Suresh and her driver Gurunatham who tried to save her, also died after sustaining severe burn injuries later.

Also Read: Abdullapurmet Tahsildar Set On Fire, Dies

With Vijaya Reddy's death, several issues had come to the fore about the Bacharam lands, which comes under the Hayathnagar and Abdullapurmet mandal.

The farmlands of Bacharam which is about 412 acres of village land that comes under survey numbers 90 to 101, have been in dispute between tenant farmers and landholders since more than four decades now.

Bacharam lands history

Agricultural land measuring 403 acres and 13 guntas, in survey numbers 73 to 101 situated at Bacharam Village, Hayathnagar Mandal, Ranga Reddy District.

As per details rendered in a legal opinion by a senior property advocate J Sivanesan from Hyderabad in 2016, the original 412 acres of land in survey no.73 to 101 once belonged to a person named Raja Anand Rao.

1971

It is said that Raja Anand Rao executed a registered sale deed in 1971 in favour of one Syed Yasin for the sale of these 412 acres of land. Syed Yasin expired leaving behind his wife Mohiuddin Bee & five others as his legal heirs.

Mohiuddin Bee 1st Phase sales

Mohiuddin Bee sold the land to different people between the years 2005 and 2007.

-Mohiuddin Bee first sold 209 acres 3 guntas, in survey no. 73 to 85 to B.Ram Mohan Rao in 2005.

-Then she sold land measuring 203 acres 10 guntas, in survey no. 86 to 101 a person named B.N.Patnaik in 2005.

-In 2006 she sold two acres of acres of land in survey no.99 & 101, 13 acres 23 guntas, in survey nos.86 Part & 87 and 20 guntas, in survey no.93 in favour of M/s.Kanthi Conductors Limited. In total M/s.Kanthi Conductors Limited were the owners of 16 acres and 3 guntas in survey no’s.93,86 p,87, 99,101).

-Again in 2005 Mohiuddin Bee sold 2 acres and 32 guntas, in s.no.,82 and 83 in favour of B.N.Patnaik.

-In 2005 she sold 2 acres and 3 guntas of land in Survey no 91 to one N.Narendra Kumar.

-In 2005 she sold 3 acres in s.no.90 of land in favour of one S.Anjan Kumar.

-In 2006 she she sold land measuring 2 Acres, in survey no.93to M/s.Kamalpriya Auto & General Agencies Private Limited.

There were several more sales which were not ratified by Mohiuddin Bee which include:

K.Bikshapati who was the owner of 1 acre and 32 guntas, in Survey no.98 vide patta pass book.no.154978.

N.Narsimha was said to own 2 acres and 23 guntas in survey no.82 and 98 vide patta pass book.no.154981

N.Ashok was the owner of 2 acres and 23 guntas in survey no.82 and 98 vide patta pass book.no.154953.

-Then in 2004 K.Bikshapati sold 1 acre and 32 guntas, in Survey no.98.to M/s.Excellent Real Estates. While N.Narsimha and N.Ashok executed a general power of attorney in 1999 to a M.M.Goud their combined land of 5 acres and 6 guntas in survey no.82 and 98.

-After which they both along with M.M.Goud in 2003 sold 6 acres and 38 guntas( 33,638sq.yds) in survey no.82 and 98 to M/s.Excellent Real Estates.

-Then M/s.Excellent Real Estates divided the 6 acres and 38 guntas in survey no.82 and 98 into residential plots and sold them to different people.

-R.Sekar and 18 others were the owners of 5103 sq.yds in survey no.98 and 82 who purchased various plots from M/s.Excellent Real Estates .

-V.Someshwara acquired 4185 sq.yds in survey no.98 and 82 from the owners of the plots ,who in turn purchased from M/s.Excellent Real Estates.

- M/s.Kamalpriya Auto & General Agencies Private Limited was the owner of 540 sq.yds who acquired the same from the owners of the plots, who in turn purchased from M/s.Excellent Real Estates.

2nd Phase Sale

Now Raja Anand Rao had apparently sold land measuring 7 Acres 37 Guntas, in survey no. 97, 98 & 99 to one G.Ramaiah through an unregistered sale deed dated 29-2-1956.

- It appears that G.Ramaiah had expired leaving behind G.Narasimha & others as his legal heirs. G.Narasimha & others had partitioned the said land measuring 1 Acre, which fell into the share of G.Narasimha.

- Then in 2006 he sold this one Acre, in survey no.97, 98 & 99 in favour of M/s.Kamalpriya Auto & General Agencies Private Limited.

Third Phase Sale

Raja Anand Rao had sold 6 Acres & 5 Guntas of land in survey nos. 81, 82, 91, 98 to one M.Krishna Reddy who in turn in 2006 sold it to M/s.Kamalpriya Auto & General Agencies Private Limited

- K.Masaiah, .K.Allajee, K.Yellaiah who were said to be owners of land measuring 3 Acres 14 Guntas, in survey no.93 which they acquired in 2005, sold the same to M/s.Kamalpriya Auto & General Agencies Private Limited in 2006.

NOTE: According to the A.P. Land Reforms(Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings)Act, 1977 an individual can hold only an extent of 54 acres (maximum) of Agricultural land and if there are 6 legal heirs and they can hold only 324 acres and the rest is excess.It was noticed that the legal heirs had not approached the Land Reforms Tribunal to get the exemption for the excess land.

Accused Suresh’s land history

As per the deceased accused Suresh’s uncle Durgaiah’s version, passbooks were issued to 36 families assigning 137 acres in 1988 after they purchased these lands in Bacharam village under the Abdullapurmet tehsil from Raja Anand Rao. He said that that the land was in their family’s name till 2016, but changed hands twice with seven other persons named as owners. These seven persons, in turn, sold it to a legislator and now the matter is pending with the High Court.

As per reports, Congress leaders allege that a prominent TRS MLA had been handling the disputes of the Bacharam village farmers and promised to mutate their lands in their favour in the revenue records. The Opposition say that the ruling party leaders and political big wigs were behind the land deals in Gourelli and Bacharam villages as the lands in that region are worth hundreds of crores of Rupees now. (Source Times of India)

Accused Suresh's grandfather was one of these 36 farmers. Raja Anand Rao was clueless on how the land came to be in Abdullapurmet, which is predominantly Inam lands.

Raja Anand Rao might have taken the land from another Royal family related to the Nizam or Hyderabad province and leased it to the local farmers. Many Marathas and Gujaratis took these lands during the Nizam's tenancy and leased them to farmers.

->Now whether these 36 farmers purchased the said lands from Raja Ananda Rao or not is to be ascertained by competent authorities.

- After disposing off his properties in and around Hyderabad,Raja Ananda Rao is said to have returned to Maharashtra.

Since Suresh’s family was not into cultivation and in the past, the government gave Pattadar pass books to those who owned less than less than 5 acres. Now whether Suresh and his family names were in the pattadar was registered in records is not clear as the Pahani's are the main source of title in property in relation to land.(Source Times of India)

2000

It is reported that after the year 2000, accused Suresh made a bid for his land rights in the area. This was done after the city started developing in these areas especially after the Outer Ring Road proposal made at that time. Outer Ring Road is passing through these lands and a Notice under the land Acquisition Act, 1953 has been issued.

But in 2004, Habib and Shafiq from the village of Bacharam complained to the revenue authorities that they owned the land. Now whether Habib and Shafiq were the legal heirs of Syed Yasin and wife Mohiuddin Bee is also to be verified.

2012

In 2012, the RDO conducted an investigation and reported in favour of Habib and Shafiq.

The accused K Suresh is said to have challenged the Joint Collector (Land Disputes Court) in 2013 and after an inquiry, a report was filed against Suresh.

2016

In 2016, a comprehensive land survey was conducted and Suresh went to the Revenue authorities to collect old records and pass books in his name.

While the revenue officials were looking into the records and handing over the passbooks to Suresh, Habib approached the High Court saying that it was his land and stopped the process of issuing passbook in favour of Suresh. So another litigation is pending in the court which is yet to be completed.

In a report published in idreampost.com, Suresh had apparently taken advance amount from a local politician for the sale of his land under the impression that the revenue authorities had given him a favourable report.

The deceased MRO is said to have told him that Habib had approached the High Court and could not give passbooks until the matter was resolved in the High Court.

This could be also be a reason for his inability to get the land mutated in his favour, leading to the drastic step of killing the MRO officer.

Or whether this was instigated by a group of elements who had interest in the property considering its value had tripled after the ORR construction and realty boom in the Bacharam region. These aspects have to be ascertained by the Police and revenue authorities as part of their investigation.

Land Pooling Scheme

Many farmers in the State are partnering with Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) for the development of their land under the Land Pooling Scheme (LPS) at two sites at Bacharam in Keesara and Choutuppal areas.

Farmers have agreed to partner for land development in about 200 acres in Bacharam of Keesaramandal, 150 acres in Choutuppal areas and Pratap Singaram in Ghatkesar Mandal. In the Medchal-Malkajgiri district, of the 600 acres, farmers have agreed to partner for 400 acres of lands. LPS makes farmers or landowners to partner with HMDA on 50-50 basis, and after development they get developed plots of land which can be sold.

The ORR development and growth spurt in the realty sector in the Bacharam region, along with numerous cases pending in the High Court has led to widespread confusion about the validity of the land titles here. Not to forget the double registrations of land where the owners are not aware of in certain areas, has lead to them running from pillar to post around the Revenue departments and mandal tehsils to rectify the land records.

The deceased Suresh’s land title could probably be one such case, but for that, an innocent life was snuffed out in such a horrific manner also exposing how vulnerable revenue department officials are in the State.

Also Read: |Watch| Thaisildar’s Last Moments While Set On Fire