Hyderabad: Telangana high court has ordered a Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) inquiry into alleged large-scale encroachment of 74 acres of govt land in Survey No. 126 of Injapur village in Abdullapurmet mandal of Rangareddy district, observing that the material placed before it indicated possible collusion by revenue officials in allowing the encroachments to continue. According to market sources, the land is worth around Rs 370 crore (approximately Rs 5 crore per acre).Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka passed the orders on Monday, while disposing of a petition filed by advocate Chandra Mohan Reddy Somi Reddy.The judge also directed the director-general of police to entrust the inquiry to the CB-CID and complete it within three months, and further directed the principal secretary, revenue department, to initiate immediate action against officials responsible for failing to prevent the encroachments, particularly the tahsildar and the grama palana officer, and submit a comprehensive report within four weeks.The petitioner’s counsel contended that despite repeated representations to the authorities in Dec 2025, no action was taken against the illegal occupation and sale of govt land, large-scale encroachments and alleged manipulation of official records.“Several revenue and municipal officials, along with local politicians, had facilitated illegal constructions and tampered with layout records, resulting in a huge loss to the govt,” alleged the counsel.He further clarified that the petitioner’s personal land dispute relating to neighbouring survey numbers was being pursued separately and that the present petition was aimed at protecting govt land.Though officials initially maintained that no complaints were received regarding the survey number, the collector later informed the court that the land, measuring 74 acres and 16 guntas, was recorded as govt land and formed part of the Jilavarkhan Cheruvu.The collector also stated that a field survey had identified various occupations, including govt facilities, roads, houses, temples and other structures, while maintaining that the petitioner himself had encroached upon a small extent of land.Justice Bheemapaka noted that while the collector’s counter acknowledged widespread occupation of the govt land, it failed to explain under what authority these occupations had come into existence or what action was taken against the encroachers. “ Instead, the authorities had focused largely on the allegation against the petitioner while remaining silent on the larger issue of extensive encroachments,” the judge pointed out.The court further observed that the district collector, being the custodian of govt land, was duty-bound to protect public property and place all relevant facts before the court.It said the material on record indicated that the authorities had attempted to shield encroachers and had failed to discharge their statutory responsibilities.Noting that the land was part of a notified water body, the court said such inaction had caused substantial loss to the public exchequer and warranted an independent investigation.While declining to order a CBI probe, the court held that a CB-CID inquiry would be appropriate to identify those responsible, including public officials and private individuals, and ensure accountability.
