The police and the revenue authorities who had conducted investigation into the burning of files at the sub-collector office of Madanapalle in Annamayya district on Sunday night have found that around 2,400 files were burnt to ashes completely and 700 important documents partially.
According to the authorities, all the files pertained to land registration documents related to assigned lands and government lands.
Senior IAS officer and special chief secretary (revenue) R P Sisodia, who visited the Madanapalle office, ordered a forensic inquiry into the incident.
“It is yet to be established whether these files have any back-up in the computers or their related documents in the district revenue office. We are verifying every record in the district office about the land transactions,” Sisodia said.
While the police are interrogating outsourced employee who was allegedly present till 11 pm on Sunday night at the Madanapalle office, they are also on the lookout for Madhava Reddy, a follower of former minister and Punganur MLA Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy.
The police also seized large scale documents from the residence of Madhava Reddy, who is believed to be a benami of Peddireddy. Apparently, the registrations were done in the name of Madhava Reddy. The police are also verifying the call data records of the suspects.
The higher authorities have already taken action against Madanapalle police inspector by transferring him and suspended two constables, based on a complaint from the revenue divisional officer.
“It appears to be far more serious incident than what was originally believed to be. We are probing the issue deeply,” the IAS officer said.
