Mandya: A major fraud involving the illegal alteration of govt land records was unearthed during a raid by Lokayukta police at the assistant director of land records (ADLR) office in Srirangapatna on Friday.The operation exposed an alleged racket in which a private individual was functioning as an unauthorised data entry operator inside the govt office with the alleged support of officials.A total nine suspects, including govt employees and a woman staff member, have been arrested, while some suspects are absconding, Lokayukta police stated in a release.The action followed allegations that nearly 200 acres of govt land in Survey No. 411 of Mahadevapura village was being illegally converted into private holdings by manipulating official records using forged documents. Acting on the complaint, Upalokayukta Justice B Veerappa directed the Lokayukta police to conduct an investigation. Under the supervision of Mandya Lokayukta SP Suresh Babu, four teams simultaneously carried out searches at multiple locations.According to the Lokayukta investigation, a resident of Uttara Kannada was allegedly working inside the Srirangapatna taluk land records office as a data entry operator. Investigators alleged that he was digitising ‘Akarband’ records and accessing official systems despite not being a govt employee. The probe further revealed that surveyors allegedly shared their official Mojini software login credentials, passwords and one time passwords (OTPs) with the accused, enabling him to access and modify govt land records, officials said. Investigators also alleged that the staff, including the ADLR, collectively paid him a monthly remuneration of Rs 15,000 for his services.During searches at a residence in Mysuru, Lokayukta officials allegedly recovered nine counterfeit seals bearing the names of tahsildars and surveyors from Hunsur and Sakleshpur, note sheets containing suspected forged signatures, and Rs 1.4 lakh in cash. Investigators also found records indicating that the accused previously faced complaints in Hunsur over allegations of collecting money from the public.Based on the findings, a criminal case was registered at the Srirangapatna Town police station on the directions of the Upalokayukta.
