State vigilance wing mum on Rs 542 cr Vuda land scam

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, Mar 6, 2013: For reasons unknown, the state vigilance and enforcement department is sitting on the report submitted by its Vizag wing into the alleged Rs 542 cr Vuda land scam.

The local wing of the vigilance department after conducting an inquiry into the scam for more than 8 months submitted a report to its Hyderabad office in October, last year.

Though the state Crime Investigation Department registered a cheating case
against IAS officer VN Vishnu and eleven others over alleged attempts
to allot government land to private persons in violation of Supreme Court’s
orders, it ignored a probe into an alleged Rs542 crore land scam in
Vuda jurisdiction.

The CID, which registered the case recently, was related to a land property worth just Rs 5.42 cr belonging to Vuda after the state municipal administration and urban development department recommended the probe.  But the state government has conveniently ignored the larger scam.

The vigilance report has said to have mentioned that a couple of senior officials who acted as Vuda’s vice chairman in the past and other senior staff were found to be responsible for the illegal allotments which have incurred loss to the State’s exchequer to the tune of more than Rs 542 cr.

As the allotments’ modus operandi needed a more in-depth probe by an investigation agency, the vigilance department is said to have recommended a full-fledged probe into the scam by a premier investigation agency like the CID.

The vigilance sleuths have also recorded statements of two IAS officers as part of their probe and it was the involvement of these senior officers in the alleged land allotments which are said to have prompted  the ‘vigilance’ to recommend a CID probe.

Though the vigilance department was to submit its report by mid-July last year, it sought more than three extensions and finally submitted the report in October. It is learnt that the vigilance sleuths  recorded statements, sought clarifications or questioned more than 100 persons as part of their probe.

“We have done our part by inquiring into the scam without leaving out even a single detail  and submitted the report to our Hyderabad office long back. It is up to the Hyderabad office to do the follow-up. Our job is done here,” Additional Superintendent of Police and regional vigilance and  enforcement officer, K. Mahendra Patrudu told this correspondent.

Responding to reports in a section of the media that large-scale irregularities took place in various land allotments by Vuda, the then vice-chairman, Kona Sasidhar, submitted a report to state government’s municipal administration department.

In it he stated that prima facie evidence was found over the irregularities to the tune of Rs 542 crores in various layouts developed by the urban development authority in Rushikonda, Madhurawada and many other areas.

Acting on the report, the department of municipal administration and urban  development issued GO RT No: 341 on March 21, entrusting the job of probing into the alleged irregularities to the vigilance and enforcement wing and telling them to submit its report within three months.

“We have lodged a complaint with the CID after the instructions of our department heads of Hyderabad regarding the MVP Colony site issue. We are ready to follow Hyderabad officials’ directions in the `542 crore scam. We are awaiting instructions to go ahead from the state municipal administration and urban development department,” Vuda vice-chairman, Dr N. Yuvaraj told this newspaper.