ED Conducts Raids On Homes Of Bhoodan Land Scam Accused

The Enforcement Directorate is conducting searches in the Bhoodan lands case.

Inspections are also being carried out in the Maheshwaram lands case.

ED officials conducted searches in the houses of Munawar Khan and Khaderunnisa in the Old City, as well as in those of Sharfan and Shukoor.

Munawar Khan and Khaderunnisa are said to have developed an illegal layout and sold the Bhoodan lands. It is known that IAS officer Amay Kumar was questioned by the ED officials in the same case earlier.

There are about 103 acres of land in survey numbers 181 and 182 in Nagaram of Maheswaram mandal in Rangareddy district. A dispute has been going on over this land for some time now. It appears that about 50 acres of the land has been encroached upon - the 50 acres were allegedly illegally given to private individuals by the Bhoodan Board, and these two persons then divided it into plots and started selling it. The matter went to court, and the court has stayed all transactions related to those lands.

However, ED officials have found that a large amount of money had changed hands in this matter. A vigilance inquiry was conducted on the matter, and ED officials are continuing the investigation based on that report.

The officials issued notices to Amay Kumar, who had served as the Ranga Reddy district Collector, and questioned him several times. In addition, the ED also issued notices to some then-MLAs and questioned them. After a long gap, the ED is again acting aggressively on the Bhoodan lands case.

The ED officials have also focused on those who bought Bhoodan lands and sold them to others. As part of this, searches are currently being conducted in the Old City. The ED officials have conducted searches in the Yakatpura and Santoshnagar areas. The searches are being conducted mainly in the residences of Munawar Khan, Khaderunnisa and Sharfan in the Old City.

The role of Khaderunnisa is crucial in this case. Khaderunnisa's father had previously donated these 50 acres to the Bhoodan Board. In 2021, the same Khaderunnisa filed a petition for the transfer of the 50 acres claiming to be the heir of her father. The revenue officials are said to have immediately registered the 50 acres in her name. The then district Collector, Amay Kumar, along with lower-level staff, reportedly hurriedly transferred the 50 acres in her name of Khaderunnisa without conducting any investigation. The ED officials flagged this matter.

Khaderunnisa and some others divided the 50 acres into plots and sold them to many people. Some public representatives and some IAS and IPS officers also reportedly bought lands in this "illegal" layout.