Telangana : Dharani loophole alters land rights over 10,000 acres
HYDERABAD: A suspected manipulation of the Dharani land registration and mutation portal has resulted in the alleged unauthorised transfer of ownership rights over nearly 10,000 acres of agricultural land across Telangana. Police are investigating the case after preliminary inquiries indicated that valuable land records were altered by exploiting technical loopholes in the portal.
The alleged irregularities are concentrated in districts including Ranga Reddy, Medchal-Malkajgiri, Siddipet, Rajanna-Sircilla and Jayashankar Bhupalpally, where land values run into crores of rupees per acre in several locations. Investigators suspect that two persons linked to the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration (CCLA) extended support for the alleged fraud. Officials in some districts are also suspected to have facilitated the transactions.
Police question several suspects
According to officials, ownership rights in several cases were changed in the Dharani portal without the prescribed procedures, supporting records or mandatory documentation. District collectors in multiple districts flagged the irregularities after identifying unexplained changes in land ownership.
The State government conducted a preliminary assessment with technical experts and specialists in revenue laws before referring the matter for examination by the Cyber Crime and Information Technology wings. Police have taken several suspects into custody for questioning.
The suspected illegal transfers are spread across Hyderabad’s surrounding districts and several rural districts. In Medchal-Malkajgiri district, investigators found that land in four parcels at Ravalkole village had been transferred to other names. Since the launch of the Dharani portal, about 16 acres at one location and 15.28 acres at another were allegedly shifted to different owners.
Valuable land in several mandals of Ranga Reddy district, Kukkunoorpally mandal in Siddipet district and certain patta lands in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district were also found to have been transferred to other names.
Authorities also suspect similar irregularities in parts of Vikarabad, Mahabubnagar and the undivided Nalgonda region. However, officials noted that no corresponding alterations were found in the physical land records maintained in government offices.
