Encroachments on rise

Special team formed with police higher officials to stop the menace

Anantapur: Mischievous land grabbing practices have become a common occurrence in Anantapur district. Influential people including political leaders, police personnel reportedly usurped lands worth crores of rupees, with the support of officials. The water tanks in Kadiri were almost all invaded while many acres in Hindupur were usurped leading to daily disputes, altercations, fights. Concerned over the increasing land encroachment and the daily disputes, the district police set up a special team with three DSPs to put a halt to this menace.

Compared to other towns, the land encroachment is more in Anantapur city much to the anxiety of many people who own lands at key places. As in the words of a few victims, ‘Going to police is of no use as they too support the land encroachers.’ According to sources, a conspiracy has been hatched to encroach an expensive land in a colony and about 30 to 35 families who have been living in that area were already warned to vacate the area. A Dalit family was told to vacate the five acre land on Kalyanadurg road. The family, despite having pattadar passbook and records as the government has given that land to Dalits, couldn’t fight back the influential people who were trying to usurp their land.

Many water tanks in Kadiri and its surrounding areas were already occupied. The land on the bed of a water tank in Erraguntla worth Rs 10 crore was already usurped by encroachers. After Anantapur city, land rates in Hindupur, Lepakshi, Chilamattur and other mandals have increased steeply with the government announcing of industries, central government offices, national-level educational institutions to be set up here. The price of one acre has risen to Rs 60 lakh to Rs 70 lakh and in some areas the rate is going up to Rs one crore. The steep increase in land rates and the proximity of Hindupur to Bengaluru and the international airport was luring the encroachers to look for ways to usurp land.

The local people alleged that ruling party leaders, realtors and a few officials conspired to occupy lands in the district. Due to the involvement of some police personnel in land encroachment, several people and victims complained to Superintendent of Police S V Rajasekhar Babu. Responding to the complaints, the SP and the district police officials resorted to stop land encroachment in the district. A special team with three DSPs—Khasim Sab, Mallikarjun Varma and Narsingappa—led by Additional SP K Malyadri was formed. This team will receive complaints against land encroachments from 9 am to 6 pm at the SP Office every day. SP Rajasekhar Babu warned the police staff that stern action would be taken against them if they helped the encroachers.

By: Y Santosh Reddy