Senior Minister son’s involvement in land grabbing case creates new issue for Congress government

The Congress government in Telangana faces fresh controversy after the son of a senior Minister was allegedly involved in a land-grabbing case in Vattinagulapally, Gandipet mandal. Despite a court stay order, the Minister’s son and his aides reportedly trespassed into a three-acre plot, prompting police intervention.

Hyderabad: Land grabbing and encroachments by family members and close aides of a few Ministers continue unchecked in the State.

The Congress government, which is grappling with the controversy surrounding the Hyderabad Industrial Land Transformation Policy (HILTP), is now embroiled in another land case, this time of blatant grabbing, involving the son of a senior Minister.

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According to sources, the Minister’s son had cast his eye on a three-acre plot in Vattinagulapally under Gandipet mandal. This piece of land is adjacent to the land over which the Minister’s son and his company had entered into a development agreement.

Sources said the Minister’s son threatened the land owner to hand over the three acres. Worried, the land owner approached court and complained that his land was being encroached upon. After hearing his plea, the court issued a stay order on any dealings concerning the said plot.

Irked over this, the Minister’s son along with several bouncers and senior officials from his company, trespassed into the three acre plot and damaged a shed there. The land owner immediately rushed to a senior police official in the city to bail him out of the crisis. However, the senior police official asked him to lodge a complaint with the local police.

As the local police did not respond to his appeal, for obvious reasons, the land owner again approached the senior police official for help. Accordingly, it is learnt that a large posse of police personnel reached the location and nabbed the bouncers and also the Minister’s son. They were taken to the Gachibowli police station, where the police reportedly prepared to book an attempt-to-murder case against the Minister’s son and his aides.

After learning that the police were registering a case against his son, the Minister rushed to a senior leader in the government and briefed him, even insisting that stern action should be taken against the senior police official.

Fuming at the police department for preparing to book a case against the Minister’s son without his consent, the senior leader directed the department to suspend the police official.

Meanwhile, an aide of the senior leader intervened and warned that initiating action against the police official, who has a reputation for being a no non-sense and clean officer , would be counterproductive for the government.

This apart, the opposition parties were already cornering the State government over the HILT policy. At this juncture, any action against the senior police official would provide enough ammunition to the opposition to expose the government in failing to maintain law and order in the State, the close aide of the senior leader is learnt to have advised.

Accordingly, the senior leader withdrew his directions to the department. As a result, the senior police official instructed his subordinates to register a petty case against the Minister’s son. However, he also directed the Gachibowli local police to register a case against the land owner, the sources added.