Hyderabad: A spate of fires in government offices in Andhra Pradesh that have destroyed revenue records and other documents has raised suspicion of sabotage.
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Jana Sena Party (JSP) legislators and ministers from the ruling alliance have accused the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and officers close to the previous government of being behind the mishaps to erase evidence of alleged misdeeds.
At least four such episodes occurred in the past month and a half after the Chandrababu Naidu government took over from Jagan Mohan Reddy in the middle of June.
The YSRCP, in turn, accuses the TDP-led government of unveiling a grand “drama” of “files burning to distract the public from its unfulfilled poll promises, deteriorating law and order”.
A major fire broke at night on 21 July at the Madanapalle Revenue Division/Sub-Collector office in which crucial revenue files, records about assigned, disputed lands and those acquired for infra projects were reportedly destroyed.
Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu immediately rushed DGP Tirumala Rao and Andhra Pradesh CID chief Ravi Shankar Ayyanar to the town, 120 km from Bengaluru, in a chopper from Amaravati.
An initial probe revealed that a revenue official was present in the office late at night, before the fire broke out, even though it was a Sunday. Moreover, there were lapses in reporting the incident to senior officials and it took four hours for fire tenders to bring the fire under control.
Officials said the timing of the incident was suspicious as it occurred a day before a new sub-collector was to take charge, and in the wake of allegations of unauthorised land allotments as well as improper conversion of land use irregularities when the YSRCP was in power.
After an on-site inspection, DGP Rao ruled out short-circuit as the cause. The case was then handed over to the Crime Investigation Department (CID).
Last week, revenue minister Anagani Satya Prasad reiterated accusations he had made earlier, saying that Peddiredddy Ramachandra Reddy, a YSRCP strongman, and his family members were facing allegations of illegal acquisition of hundreds of acres of land in Tirupati, Chittoor and Rajampet areas.
Madanapalle falls under the Rajampet Lok Sabha constituency retained by YSRCP MP and Peddireddy’s son, Midhun Reddy, despite the TDP-JSP wave. He defeated the BJP candidate, former chief minister Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy.
Peddireddy is the sole minister from Jagan’s cabinet who managed to win the 2024 assembly poll from the nearby Punganur constituency. The father-son duo is known to be close to Jagan.
CID chief Ayyanar, who earlier headed the NIA’s southern headquarters investigating major terror cases and secured convictions in the Hyderabad blasts case, told ThePrint their probe is on in the revenue office fire case.
“There was no evidence of a short-circuit having taken place causing the fire. We have sent the evidence collected from the spot to both the state and the central forensic labs for analysis,” he said.
Pollution Control Board files set on fire
In the series of fires, the first reported incident was on 3 July, outside Pedapulipaka village, near Vijayawada, on the banks of the Krishna, where files and other materials about the AP Pollution Control Board (APPCB) were set on fire.
Villagers caught hold of a duo who were destroying files and office paraphernalia. Penamaluru TDP MLA Bode Prasad, who reached the spot alerted by the locals, handed the men to the police. One was identified as a PCB employee and the other a cab driver.
Bode Prasad claimed the burnt files, the contents of which could not be deciphered, bore the images of former forests and environment minister Peddireddy and former APPCB chairman Sameer Sharma.
“Looks like YSRCP leaders and officials were trying to erase all the evidence of irregularities committed in their regime,” Bode told reporters.
The case is being probed by the Krishna district police, who reportedly took some more PCB employees into custody for questioning. They reportedly confessed to acting under Sharma’s instructions.
Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, who also holds the environment and forests portfolio, asked officials to conduct a thorough probe and act stringently in the case.
However, a district police official said they have not found any incriminating evidence or a suspicious act yet. “They seem to be unimportant files, materials, mostly the kind one leaves behind once demitting office. The probe is on.”
Sharma, the outgoing chief secretary, was appointed the APPCB chairman by Jagan in November 2022.
Polavaram project papers, TTD office fire
In another incident on 17 August, papers about the Polavaram project were burnt by employees of the Polavaram Rehabilitation and Resettlement office at Dowleswaram, near Rajahmundry.
Though the papers were found to be unwanted photocopies of files related to the left main canal, yet another “files burning incident” alarmed the Naidu government.
East Godavari collector P Prasanthi ordered the suspension of four lower-rung employees while issuing show-cause notices to two deputy tehsildars, for failing to follow due procedure in destroying such office material.
It was done without the prior approval of the project administrator/head of the Polavaram Project (R&R) office. District police have also registered a case and are probing the matter.
JSP leader and tourism and cinematography minister Kandula Durgesh visited the Dowleswaram office, saying the state government took serious note of the burning of documents related to the Polavaram project, adding that “culprits will be given stringent punishment”.
The alliance leaders implied some misdeed here too on the part of YSRCP leaders, in the compensation provided to Polavaram displaced families.
Speaking to ThePrint, an official said the Dowleswaram incident was totally innocuous. “The poor employees were just making space for important files in the new almirahs bought, discarding the useless ones,” he said. “However, following the Madanapalle fire, the otherwise ignorable act attracted the limelight.”
Nevertheless, the spate of fires in Andhra Pradesh government offices continues.
On Saturday, 17 August, a fire broke out in one engineering section office room of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) administrative complex in Tirupati.
The fire was caused by an oil lamp lit as part of the weekly pooja in TTD offices in obeisance to Lord Venkateshwara. It was noticed and extinguished quickly but some files got burnt by that time.
The deputy executive engineer’s office holds records of works undertaken by the TTD in the temples it manages across south India.
“Anyway, we operate an e-office, meaning all files are also digitised. There is no concern as such though both the TTD and the police are probing the matter,” one official told ThePrint.
‘TDP’s drama, diversionary tactics’
YSRCP leaders are accusing the TDP-led government of engaging in a grand drama of “files burning” to distract the public from its failures.
“The files burning allegations are a mere diversion tactic aimed at shifting focus away from their inability to fulfil the Super Six welfare promises,” Margani Bharat, a former Lok Sabha MP, told reporters on Monday.
“Incidents like the Madanapalle fire accident are being misused, misrepresented to defame YSRCP leaders and divert public attention from real issues like the breakdown of law and order in AP after Naidu came to power.”
The YSRCP questioned “the pointless haste” in dispatching the DGP to Madanapalle in a chopper, while “making false allegations against their leaders, and feeding falsehoods to the media to create chaos”.
At that time, the YSRCP said in a post on X the strategy was aimed at deflecting public attention from the Jagan-planned protest in New Delhi against “Chandrababu’s dictatorial rule, the anarchy, political murders, and rapes prevailing in the state”.
On 24 July, Jagan staged a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi against Naidu’s new administration, attended by several INDIA bloc leaders like Akhilesh Yadav.
“Records from the sub-collector’s office are also available at the MRO (Mandal Revenue Office) office, district collector’s office, and the CCLA (Chief Commissioner of Land Administration) office, both offline and online,” said the party.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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