Telangana’s Crime Investigation Department has arrested four people, including a Bhu Bharati portal operator, in an alleged land mutation fraud involving a three-acre parcel valued at more than Rs 90 crore in Kollur, one of the state’s emerging real estate hotspots. The accused have been remanded in judicial custody and lodged at Sangareddy jail, according to the Times of India report.
The arrests are the first reported police action after the Telangana government ordered an investigation into the Dharani and Bhu Bharati land-record systems. The four accused have been identified as Dade Shiva, Mangali Rajender, Dade Pavan Kalyan and A Mahesh. They were arrested in a case registered in July by Ramachandrapuram police in Sangareddy district.
The case centres on an alleged mutation of three acres in Kollur in favour of B Vinod Kumar. The parcel had previously been recorded in the name of another person. A complaint filed by the Ramachandrapuram tahsildar stated that the mutation application was not visible in any of the office’s mutation modules or workflow before June 27, 2026.
The tahsildar told police that no application had been filed by Vinod Kumar at the office, and that no field enquiry, mutation proposal, recommendation or approval had been completed by the office. Under the Bhu Bharati Act, 2025, the revenue divisional officer is the authority responsible for authorising mutations, police said.
The irregular entry led the tahsildar’s office to suspect that the Bhu Bharati portal had been hacked and that revenue records had been altered. Following its investigation, the CID arrested the four accused, including the operator who allegedly had access to the portal. The report did not establish the precise method used to alter the records or the alleged roles of each accused.
The arrests come after the state government formed a Special Investigation Team in July to examine issues linked to the Dharani and Bhu Bharati systems. The SIT is led by police officer Charu Sinha, who holds director general of police rank, and includes officers from different departments. The government had introduced Bhu Bharati after the earlier Dharani system was initiated under the previous administration.
The accused have been booked under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to cheating, making false documents, forgery, forgery of public records, use of forged documents or electronic records, and criminal conspiracy. Police have also invoked provisions of the Information Technology Act. The allegations remain subject to investigation and judicial proceedings.
The CID has not released the full details of its investigation. Police have also registered similar cases in other districts, according to the report. CID officials said they planned to share further information in the coming days.
