Warangal: Police unearth Rs 3.90 Cr land registration fraud; 15 held for manipulating Dharani, Bhu Bharathi portals

Warangal: Police have unearthed a large-scale land registration fraud and arrested 15 people involved in manipulating fee receipts on the Dharani and Bhu Bharathi portals in Warangal.

The gang had caused a loss of Rs 3.90 crore to the government exchequer.

Addressing the media, Warangal Commissioner of Police Sunpreet Singh said 15 accused were arrested while nine others are on the run. Police seized Rs 63.19 lakh in cash, property documents worth about Rs 1 crore, one car, two laptops, five desktop computers, and 17 mobile phones from the accused.

How the scam worked

Sunpreet Singh said that the accused exploited technical loopholes in the government’s land registration portals, earlier Dharani and currently Bhu Bharathi, to siphon off registration fees.

Using a mobile application and technical know-how, they altered digits on official online fee receipts at the time of challan payment. By changing the figures, they paid a lower amount to the government while producing forged receipts showing higher payments.

These fake challans were routed through intermediaries and submitted at Tahsildar offices to complete registrations, he said.

Key Accused and Network

Police identified Pasunari Basavaraju, Jella Pandu, and Maheshwaram Ganesh, residents of Yadadri district, as the prime conspirators. They operated with the help of staff from Mee-Seva and private online computer centres across Jangaon district, Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri district, and Nalgonda district.

The gang also appointed middlemen in Jangaon and Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri districts, offering commissions ranging from 10% to 30% for facilitating registrations of agricultural land documents.

Cases and Financial Impact

A total of 22 cases have been registered, seven in Jangaon district and 15 in Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri district. Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused manipulated transactions related to 1,080 land documents, diverting Rs 3.90 crore that should have gone to the state treasury.

Further investigation is underway to identify additional beneficiaries and recover the remaining amount.

Commendation for Police Team

CP Sunpreet Singh lauded the efforts of West Zone DCP Rajamahendra Naik, ASP Pandari Chetan, Jangaon Inspector Satyanarayana Reddy, Raghunathpally CI Srinivas Reddy, and other officers and staff involved in cracking the case. Cash rewards were announced for their exemplary work.