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Former minister arrested in land

scam, forgery ease

PS Jayaram  2 February 2013

HYDERABAD - Former Minister P Shankar Rao, known more for the public interest litigation (PIL)

case he filed in the Andhra Pradesh High Court against Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy leading

to the latter's arrest, has himself landed in trouble with police picking him up in connection with a

land grab and forgery case.

The maverick legislator representing Secunderabad cantonment, who has been consistently targetin~

Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, was picked up by the police for questioning from his residence

on Thursday evening preceded by high drama. He was taken straight to Neredmet police station in

Secunderabad, where a court-directed case was registered based on a petition moved by S

Chandrasekhar, president of Green Fields Plot Owners' Association.

A senior police official said: "We picked up Shankar Rao only for questioning, and we do not intend

to arrest him. During questioning, the legislator complained of chest pain and he was shifted to

Gandhi Hospital, from where he was taken to a corporate hospital in the city where he had

undergone a surgery recently for heart problem."

Tension prevailed for a while as police swooped in at Shankar Rao's residence and requested him to

accompany them. The legislator resisted for about 30 minutes and questioned the police on why he

should be subjected to questioning. Following the resistance put up by him, police had to forcibly

take him to a hospital.

The plot owners association, in an first information report lodged with the police in November 2011,

had alleged that the former minister had conspired with his brother P Dayanand and others and

prepared false documents for a 75-acre piece of land at Kanajiguda in Secunderabad. The accused

produced the forged documents before the Malkajgiri tehsildar as genuine for their illegal gain, the

complainant said, adding that the MLA threatened the association members with dire consequences

if they took up the case.

The police had registered a case against the MLA following a court direction based on a complaint

filed by the housing society. the Neredmet police booked Shankar Rao under sections 120B (Crimina

conspiracy), 420 (Cheating), 468 (Forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (Using as genuine a

forged document), 406 (Criminal breach of trust) and 506 (Criminal intimidation) of the Indian

Penal Code {IPC)

IANS add: After widespread criticism of police for the manner in which Congress legislator and

former minister Shankar Rao was picked up in a land grab case, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N

Kiran Kumar Reddy on Friday ordered a high-level probe. The chief minister directed Director

General of Police V. Dinesh Reddy to hold an inquiry by Additional Director General of Police

Krishna Prasad. The chief minister issued orders after Deputy Chief Minister Damodar

Rajanarasimha and other ministers called on him and voiced their unhappiness over the way police

behaved with the Dalit leader. The police behaviour evoked strong condemnation not just from

ministers but also several Dalit groups, some of whom approached state human rights commission

seeking a probe