Metro India News | AMARAVATI

Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan has fired a blazing warning shot at former minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, accusing him and his family of grabbing vast stretches of protected forest land in Chittoor district.

The Deputy CM publicly uploaded details of alleged encroachments, spread across nearly 104 acres in Mangalamapet, on his X account, throwing open evidence that cannot be buried anymore. He has also ordered the Forest Department to publish the names of all encroachers, the extent of land occupied, and the status of cases against each of them directly on the department’s website for public scrutiny.

Pawan questioned how the Peddireddy family could mysteriously claim ancestral rights to land located deep inside forest belts. He slammed the construction of massive estates and buildings on forest land as a blatant mockery of the law. “Forest resources belong to the nation, anyone who grabs them will face action, no matter who they are,” he declared.

During a recent aerial survey conducted after visiting the Musalimadugu elephant training camp, Pawan personally inspected the disputed lands and later reviewed Vigilance and POR (Preliminary Offence Report) findings with top officials. He noted disturbing discrepancies: land originally recorded as 45.80 acres had ballooned to 77.54 acres in Webland records. He demanded an inquiry into survey subdivision manipulations, registration anomalies, and the chain of ownership transfers.

He also flagged allegations that Peddireddy and his son Mithun Reddy provided false forest-land information in their 2024 election affidavits.

Calling the Mangalamapet case a symbol of how forest laws were ignored for years, Pawan vowed that the government would reclaim all encroached land and ensure accountability.