Daspalla land row: Land owners say no role of YSRCP, Opposition want CBI inquiry

Visakhapatnam: The ruling YSRCP leaders have come under severe criticism from various quarters, including from the Opposition, for taking over huge chunks of land in prime locations in Visakhapatnam.

A major controversy is around 15.65 acres of Dasapalle lands located in the heart of the city. In 2007, Rani Kamaladevi reportedly sold these lands to 64 persons under ground rent pattas, which is normally done for small parcels of land.

The district administration challenged the transaction in the High Court and lost the case. But for various reasons, it delayed in filing a special leave petition in the Supreme Court by 570 days. The Supreme Court confirmed the ownership of Rani Kamala Devi in 2012.

Later, former collector Yuvaraj issued a gazette notification to continue the lands listed under Section 22a.

But after the YSRC government announced the concept of three capitals in the Assembly in 2019, a company called Assure Estates Developers LLP, formerly Vizag Coast Realtors LLP, sprang up within the next 17 days. One Umesh, a former civil servant, and his wife Lakshmi were directors of Vizag Coast Realtors. In July 2020, S.R Gopinath Reddy became its director.

The company soon signed an agreement with the 64 land owners and created three documents and submitted them to the sub-registrar's office in Visakhapatnam. The stamp value of Rs. 9.75 crore was transferred to Assure Estates Developers from Avyaan Realtors LLP, whose directors are Neha Reddy (daughter of Rajya Sabha member V. Vijay Sai Reddy) and her husband Rohit Reddy.

"Assure Estates is a front for Vijay Sai Reddy. Otherwise, why did a company owned by his daughter transfer money for stamp duty?" asked Jana Sena leader and corporator P.L.N Murthy Yadav.

Meanwhile, the directors of the company, Umesh and Gopinath Reddy, on Saturday said they were not benamis of Vijay Sai Reddy. "We are raising our own funds, borrowing from friends and banks," Gopinath Reddy told reporters.

The Jana Sena leader said there was immense pressure from the YSRCP leaders on the collector to delete the lands from Section 22a. He said that prior to 2019, Vijay Sai had issued the statement that the lands were owned by the government and the present minister Gudivada Amaranth asked the CBI to probe the Dasapalla land issue.