The Officer absconding since 25 days was tracked down to his hideout in Raichur; he was using internet calls to avoid being traced; one outsourced staff and eight staff of Survey Settlement and Land Records Dept. already arrested in the case

Srirangapatna: A Gazetted Officer, who had gone elusive after Lokayukta Police busted a major scam related to granting Government land to private individuals, was traced to Raichur after 25 days of intense search. He was formally arrested and produced before a Court, which has remanded him to Lokayukta Police custody.

Assistant Director of Land Records (ADLR), Srirangapatna taluk, Mohammed Hussain, was among 10 accused, most of them the staffers of Survey Settlement and Land Records Department, booked on the charges of forging records of Government lands and issuing khata in the name of private parties.

The other accused are: outsourced staff member Nitin Premanand Mahale, Survey Supervisor Yogaraj and Surveyors Arvind, Jayaboregowda, Dayanand, Madhu, Ramesh, Harish and Nisha Sarika, totalling nine persons, who were arrested on July 2, while Hussain, the prime accused, had gone absconding since then.

The case had been booked, following a complaint lodged by Nagendra of Mahadevapura Gram Panchayat limits. He had alleged that khata, sale deed, RTC and other records were fraudulently being created for about 200 acres of Government land in Survey No. 411 in Mahadevapura GP limits. During Lokayukta investigation, the investigators found substance in the complaint and subsequently arrested nine accused.

To avoid Police, Hussain had stopped using cell phone and was making calls on internet.

The investigators, who were on the trail of Hussain, stumbled upon a vital clue and reached his hideout in Raichur, from where he was arrested and brought to Srirangapatna, it is said.