Municipal vice-chairman, 2 others in police custody

Tirupati : The police investigation into the Madanapalle fire incident that took place on July 21 night has been going on in a speedy manner. They reportedly took three more persons into custody for questioning relating to the case, including Madanapalle municipal vice-chairman and YSRCP leader Jinka Venkatachalapathi along with another YSRCP leader and a senior journalist said to be close to MP P Midhun Reddy.

Former RDOs of Madanapalle Hariprasad and Murali along with a senior assistant in the sub-collector office Gowtham Teja along with a few others were already under police custody. The government has appointed 10 teams to investigate the case from all aspects to fix the culprits.

It may be recalled that special chief secretary (revenue) R P Sisodia revealed on Friday that 2,440 important files were burnt in the incident while 700 other files could be saved. Efforts are underway to recreate the lost documents, given their recent nature, with information available at the RDO and collector’s offices.

In all, the police have been questioning around 10 suspects as of now while the indications reveal that another 5-6 persons may be taken into custody anytime. The search for another key suspect and a follower of former minister Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy was still going on. Farmers have been approaching the sub-collector office daily with complaints of their land encroachments by the YSRCP leaders.

Meanwhile, CPI state committee member G Eswaraiah demanded stringent action against those responsible for the fire incident in the sub collector office. The investigation should be beyond political lines to bring out the truth in the whole episode, he said. The party staged a dharna before the sub-collector’s office on Saturday castigating the delay in arresting the accused in the case.

Eswaraiah has accused tainted revenue officials in the Mandanapalle revenue division of assisting political leaders and others in the encroachment of over 1,000 acres government land. These officials allegedly created fake documents and tampered with 22A records. Eswaraiah questioned the slow pace of the investigation and advised the government against making political compromise with the opposition by tearing off pages from the ‘Red Book’. He stated that the CPI will submit comprehensive information regarding the encroached lands.