*Kakani challenges Govt to order CBI probe*

Nellore, August 14: Former Minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy rejected the reports published by Eenadu against him and said he was responding with documentary evidence, including statements given by farmers in 2016.
Kakani said farmers such as Koteswara Rao and Veeraswamy had recorded statements that they were threatened with denial of compensation and removal of their names from land records if they refused to part with their lands for ₹6 lakh per acre. He said the farmers approached him when he was MLA in 2016 and he assured them that their interests would be protected.
He said he had insisted on compensation of ₹15 lakh per acre for nearly 100 acres and that the government collected the same amount from industrialists. However, a plan was made to pay farmers only ₹6 lakh per acre and divert the remaining ₹9 lakh, involving nearly ₹9 crore out of a ₹15-crore transaction. Records also documented signatures obtained on blank papers and transactions involving farmers’ bank accounts, passbooks and cheque books.

Kakani said only 50 of the 100 acres could eventually be allotted to one company, while the remaining 50 acres are still vacant despite efforts to attract industries.
He questioned the reliance on a 2004 vigilance report while ignoring the government-prescribed land valuation process and whether compensation had been properly deposited. He said land acquisition passed through multiple levels, from MRO and RDO to the Collector, CCLA, Revenue Principal Secretary and Industries Department, and maintained that not a single rupee of corruption occurred.
Kakani said all farmers received government-fixed compensation and additional relief was secured for those facing record-related issues. He challenged the government to order a CBI inquiry, noting that he himself had approached the High Court seeking one. He also said he would soon expose, with evidence, the misuse of government lands in Sarvepalli.