Three held for grabbing army soldier's land in Vizag

The accused have been identified as Kodigudla Venkata Ramana, Pachi Ramesh, and Pothina Jaya Balakrishna, all residents of Visakhapatnam.

According to DCP (law and order) Aishwarya Rastogi, the complainant Golagani Kanakaraju, a serving army soldier, had purchased 138.88 square yard land out of 279 square yard plot, from Guttula Gangadhar Srinivas in January 2012.

The property is located in Bottavanipalem in Madhurawada and Kanakaraju. The remaining land was bought by Nelli Ramarao and both the deals were brokered by the accused Pachi Ramesh.

At that time of the deal, the survey stones were laid. But in August 2020, when Kanakaraju visited the site, he found that the survey stones were removed and the land leveled.

Fearing that someone was trying to grab the land, both Kanakaraju and Ramarao built boundary walls. However, all three accused visited the site and threatened the duo.

Later taking advantage of the absence of Kanakaraju, who was posted at the Punjab border, the accused damaged the boundary wall and tried to construct a shed. He also erected a board stating that the site was not for sale and it belonged to one Vanapalli Nagamani, said the DCP.

Acting on a complaint, police arrested the accused under various sections of AP Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act and sent them to judicial remand on Monday.