Ex-Health Minister Eatala Rajender’s family bought assigned land, finds probe

HYDERABAD: In a new development in former Health Minister Eatala Rajender’s “land scam” case, Registration Department officials have found that Rajender’s family members purchased at lease five acres of assigned lands in Devaryamjal.

Registration Department officials have initiated an internal probe on the involvement of its own officials at the time of registration of the lands. These registered lands, which were assigned lands, were pledged to the banks for raising loans of crores of rupees for running Jamuna Hatcheries in Masaipet mandal of Medak district. 

Sources said officials had found that more than 50 acres of land across Devaryamjal were purchased by Rajender’s family members and registered in the name of Jamuna Hatcheries, or in Rajender’s son Nitin Reddy’s name. 

​Of these, three to five acres of land were given to poor people a few years ago as assigned lands by the government. 

“We found that at least three to five acres of assigned land were illegally purchased and registered by the former minister’s family members. Further, the land documents were pledged with the bank as security for raising loans,” an official said. 

Similarly, assigned lands located at Achampet in Masaipet mandal of Medak district were also purchased by Rajender. Officials are still inquiring into how the former minister managed to get them registered. 

The government is preparing to write to banks seeking to know how the latter had sanctioned loans to Rajender with assigned lands as the security. It is also contemplating asking the banks to take action against the Minister’s family.