TDP MLC sent to jail in Hyderabad land scam

Hyderabad: G Deepak Reddy, a member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council and one of the state's richest politicians, and two others were on Wednesday sent to jail by a court in a land scam in Hyderabad.

Deepak Reddy, advocate Sailesh Saxena and realtor Srinivas were sent to Chanchalguda Jail after a city court remanded them to judicial custody for two weeks.

Deepak Reddy, belonging to the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh, was allegedly involved in grabbing prime government and private land in Hyderabad worth hundreds of crore.

A Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) who had declared in his 2012 election affidavit that he owned assets worth Rs 6,781 crore claimed that he was innocent. He alleged that his signature was forged on some documents.

According to police, Deepak Reddy and the others were taken into custody on Tuesday night on charges of cheating and forgery.

They allegedly created fake documents to grab lands including eight acres in the posh Banjara Hills, which originally belonged to a family which had migrated to Pakistan.

Officials said the MLC along with the advocate created forged documents to encroach 178 acres of government land in Hakimpet under Sheikhpet block which was assigned to poor families.

The TDP leader, a close relative of party MP J.C. Diwakar Reddy, also grabbed 78 acres of land worth Rs 163 crore at Asif Nagar by creating fake documents in the name of Iqbal Islam Khan. Police investigations revealed it was a fictitious name.

By creating the fake documents of these lands, the accused allegedly entered into litigation against the government or private owners of the lands.

It was in November last year that a case was booked with respect to Asifnagar land, on a complaint by Mustafa Society. Subsequently, several other societies lodged complaints against the MLC and others.

A police officer said details of the scam would emerge after they investigate all the complaints against the accused.

The MLC's arrest came close on the heels of an illegal land scam coming to light in Cyberabad, the IT district. 

Last month, police arrested three men including a government employee for illegal transfer of 607 acres of government land to private individuals. The government reportedly lost Rs 686 crore in these illegal transactions.