Four employees of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) were arrested on Wednesday by Rajendranagar Police in connection with a forgery and cheating case involving the manipulation of Transferrable Development Rights (TDR) certificates. The accused are alleged to have fraudulently issued TDR certificates worth Rs2.5 crore with the help of three private individuals.
The arrested employees include Mohd. Khabirullah Khan, a Town Planning Section Officer, N. Krishna Mohan, a Deputy City Planner, K. Srinivas Reddy, a Deputy Inspector of Survey in Land Acquisition, and A. Deepak Kumar, a Surveyor in the Land Acquisition department. Along with three private individuals—Mukram, Ashfaq, and Mukthadir—the group is accused of manipulating the issuance of TDR certificates from the GHMC. These certificates are issued for landowners as compensation for land acquired by the government for development projects.
The accused allegedly colluded to issue fraudulent TDR certificates for non-existent or ineligible properties, thus causing financial loss to the GHMC and enabling the private individuals to benefit illegally.
The fraud was discovered during an internal audit by the Rajendranagar Police, who were alerted to the unusual activities surrounding the issuance of TDR certificates. Upon further investigation, the police uncovered that the accused GHMC employees had been colluding with private individuals to manipulate the process and issue certificates without proper verification. The total value of the fraudulent transactions amounted to Rs2.5 crore.
Following the investigation, the police arrested all the accused on Wednesday. The GHMC employees were charged with forgery, cheating, and misuse of official position, while the private individuals were charged for their role in facilitating the fraud.
The police have confiscated several documents and digital evidence related to the manipulation of TDR certificates. Authorities are continuing to investigate the full scope of the scam and are looking into whether other government officials or private parties were involved
The arrest of these GHMC employees has raised concerns about corruption within municipal bodies and the integrity of public officials. TDR certificates are critical for compensating landowners, and any manipulation of this system undermines public trust in the city’s administrative processes.
The Rajendranagar Police have urged residents and landowners to report any irregularities related to TDR certificates or land acquisition schemes, to prevent further fraudulent activities.
