Eatala Rajender, who was ousted from the K Chandrashekar Rao Cabinet, now faces yet another probe. The State Government has ordered an inquiry into alleged encroachment of temple lands worth over ₹1,000 crore in Medchal district.

The Government has set up a panel with four senior IAS officers to probe the allegations and submit a report at the earliest. The panel consists of M Raghunandan Rao (Commissioner,Panchayat Raj and Rural Development); three district Collectors Prasanth Jeevan Patil (Nalgonda); Bharati Hollikari (Mancherial); and Swetha Mohanty (Medchal-Malkajgiri).

“We have received several complaints about largescale encroachments and illegal transactions of lands of Sri Seetna Rama Swamy temple at Devarayamjal village in Medchal district. It is reported that these individuals have unlawfully occupied large extents of the lands worth ₹1,000 crore belonging to the temple,” Somesh Kumar, Chief Secretary of Telangana, has said in the order.

The panel would assess the extent of encroachments, identify the offenders and recommend action to be taken.

Quoting reports in the vernacular media, he according to the reports Eatala Rajender and a few others had allegedly encroached 1,521 acres in the village.

‘Denies charges’

The former minister has denied the accusations. Earlier, acting on complaints from a few farmers near Achampet in Medak district, the Chief Minister first stripped the minister off his Medical and Health portfolio’s and removed him from the Cabinet. A day later, the State government ordered a probe. Eatala Rajender, before leaving for his Constituency Huzurabad in Karimnagar in a very large convoy on Monday, denied doing any thing wrong. He said he would face the probe and seek legal help.

He said he would take a decision after holding discussions with his followers.

Recalling his two-decade long political journey, he said he stood by the TRS President as he had led the movement for a separate State without expecting any returns. With regard to the fresh allegations, he contended that several farmers had been doing farming there for years.

Stating that he didn’t believe in the reports and inquiries conducted by the agencies that work under the Government influence, he demanded a probe by a sitting High Court judge. He said he would not be cowed by false accusations.

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