A.P. Chief Secretary denies charges of fraudulent assigned land deals, warns of legal action against JSP corporator soon

Despite condemning the allegations, JSP leader Murthy Yadav has been propagating lies as part of a conspiracy, says Jawahar Reddy; ready to face any action if I fail to prove charges, asserts JSP leader

Chief Secretary K.S. Jawahar Reddy will shortly issue a legal notice to P. Murthy Yadav, a JSP corporator of the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC), for accusing him of purchasing vast tracts of assigned lands in the north coastal districts, including Visakhapatnam.

In a press release, Mr. Reddy said that the allegation made by Mr. Yadav was baseless, and that he repeated the same on May 26 by claiming to have evidence of the accusation.

Mr. Reddy said he condemned the charges levelled against him by the JSP leader on May 25 itself, but he kept propagating lies. He, therefore, consulted his lawyers and would be soon issuing a legal notice.

In a statement to the media on May 25, Mr. Reddy said the allegation made by Mr. Murthy Yadav that he had purchased about 800 acres of assigned lands through fraudulent means were a part of a conspiracy, and he was taking it seriously.

‘Order CBI probe’

Meanwhile, addressing the media in Visakhapatnam, Mr. Murthy Yadav said he stood by the charges he had made against Mr. Jawahar Reddy on May 25, and that he was ready for any action, if he failed to prove the allegations.

“The CS had come to Visakhapatnam to buy assigned lands at Bhogapuram and his son grabbed lands in the North Andhra region,” Mr. Murthy Yadav charged again.

The YSRCP government had brought out a legislation to deprive the poor farmers of their assigned lands, the JSP corporator alleged, and added that assigned lands were no longer in the names of the farmers.

As the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) pertaining to the general elections was still in force, the Chief Secretary, as in-charge of the State administration, could recommend a CBI inquiry into the “charges of land-grabbing and threatening of farmers by the revenue officials,” Mr. Murthy Yadav said. The Chief Secretary could also recommend an inquiry by a sitting judge, he said, and added that he was prepared to come out with evidence to prove his charges.