Naxals ask AP govt to distribute surplus land

Sending tremors across the corporate world in and around Hyderabad, the People's War Group (PWG)""now christened CPI(Maoist)""has demanded redistribution of around 50,000 acres of land that belonged to some rich individuals.

Some of the individuals whom the naxalite group has named include Ramalinga Raju of Satyam Computer, Srini Raju of iLabs, Ramoji Rao of Eenadu and Girish Sanghi of the Sanghi group. According to the outfit, it has details to substantiate its claim that the land actually belonged to poor people.

Speaking to Business Standard, Akkiraju Haragopal alias Ramakrishna, who is leading the talks with the state government, said it was a crucial issue to be resolved through the ongoing talks with the government.

According to the CPI (Maoist), Ramalinga Raju, the promoter of Satyam Computers and his family, is one of the biggest owners of land in and around the city.

"Ramalingaraju and his family owns between 5,000 acres and 6,000 acres of land in the Ranga Reddy and Medak district limits around the state capital," Ramakrishna said.

"We are not here to submit any documentary evidences to the government. Though actual identification has to be done by an independent commission, we will submit details available with us to the government during the discussion. We are also gathering further information about such cases," he said.

When contacted, a Satyam Computer spokesperson refused to comment on the issue.

Asking the government to redistribute the land by enforcing the Urban Land Ceiling Act, the Land Ceiling Act and other legal means, he said the party would raise its demands at an appropriate time. The 50,000 acres land was spread across the Nalgonda, Medak and Ranga Reddy and Hyderabad districts, he said. These lands originally belonged to poor farmers, he added.

Market value of this land runs into thousands of crores of rupees. The naxalites' claim is not only limited to these lands, but also to those allotted by the state government.

Itclaims that the Film City, owned by Ramoji Rao, has in its possession over 3,000 acres of land, whereas the state government had allotted only 1,300 acres. Same was the case with Sanghi group, owned by Congress MP Girish Sanghi, he said.

According to him, iLab's Srini Raju is also in the list. According to him, Sriniraju owns around 1,000 acres near the Gandipet reservoir, the lifeline of Hyderabad citizens.

"In the past the government had claimed that 3 million acres of surplus land was available in the state. So far, about 500,000 acres of surplus land has been distributed to the poor. We demand the government distribute the remaining land by taking over it from the clutches of the land lords and other big people," Ramakrishna said.