The police has arrested a politically powerful realtor who made hundreds of crores of rupees by literally selling the “Bay of Bengal” as “land” to many companies, including Indian Oil Corporation.
Devadas Reddy, 60, arrested from Minjur, near Chennai, is said to be worth around Rs 1,000 crores. Apart from the “sea”, he had also sold river beds and canals to companies in the suburban northern industrial belt as well as to individuals.
“We have arrested Devadas Reddy based on complaints from two persons who had fallen into his trap,” said a senior police officer of Tiruvallur.
“He had been selling sea and land in the area of Athipattu piece by piece to large companies, including IOC.”
Reddy’s strategy was to convince buyers that the sea had encroached upon the particular area, and once the sea receded the buyer could take possession of the land.
Impressed by his smooth talk, IOC had paid Rs 26 crores for 106 acres of land. But when IOC’s legal department tried to verify the documents they found that many of the survey numbers listed were either seashore, or river beds or canals. Nearly 81 acres of land belonged to this category and only 25 acres belonged to private parties. “We are going to have a meeting with the IOC officials on Friday,” the police officer told this newspaper.
Immediately after the police arrested him, senior cops received calls from many officials and party bosses. “Reddy, who owns a Rs 20-crore bungalow in Anna Nagar, is really well connected,” said the officer.