Hyderabad: Police arrested 15 members of a gang involved in the Bhu Bharati scam linked to large-scale irregularities in land registrations. The fraud occurred in Jangaon and Yadadri districts. Officials said the scam caused a loss of ₹3.90 crore to the government.
Police launched the arrests after an extensive investigation into the manipulation of land registration fees on the Bhu Bharati portal. Officers said nine more accused remain absconding. The case drew statewide attention due to the scale of the fraud and the misuse of official digital systems meant for public services.
Sunpreet Singh, Commissioner of Police, Warangal, disclosed the details at his office in Hanumakonda. He said the prime accused, Pasunuri Basavaraju, ran an online service centre in Yadagirigutta of Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district. Police identified him as the main executor of the fraud.
Modus operandi behind the Bhu Bharati scam revealed
The commissioner said another key accused, Ganesh, collected money from farmers by claiming he would deposit registration fees into government accounts through NRI channels. He routed the funds to online service centres and middlemen on a commission basis. The intermediaries then forwarded the challans to Basavaraju.
Basavaraju allegedly used the “Inspect Edit” option on the Bhu Bharati website to reduce the payable registration fee. He edited the challans through his mobile phone. Police said the accused paid a lower amount to the government than what the receipts showed. Intermediaries later submitted fake challans to MRO and registration offices, causing revenue loss.
Police said the accused committed fraud in transactions linked to 1,080 land documents across Jangaon and Yadadri districts. Authorities registered 22 cases in connection with the scam.
Among those arrested, 10 belonged to Yadadri district and five to Jangaon district. During searches, police seized ₹63.19 lakh in cash and ₹1 lakh from bank deposits. They also seized property documents worth about ₹1 crore, one car, two laptops, five desktop computers, and 17 mobile phones. Police said the investigation continues to trace the absconding accused and recover more assets.
