IAS officer transferred day after demolition near Jagan Reddy's home in Hyderabad

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Zonal Commissioner for Khairatabad, Bhorkade Hemant Sahadeorao, was transferred on Sunday, a day after the demolition of an illegal security outpost near former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's residence in the city.

GHMC Commissioner Amrapali Kata raised concerns over the demolition, which was initiated on the orders of a minister without notifying superiors. Consequently, Hemant has been directed to report to the General Administration Department (GAD).

Officials indicated that neither the former Chief Minister nor the intelligence agencies had prior knowledge of the demolition of the structures at the Lotus Pond area.

However, a senior official of the GHMC's town planning department said that they have informed the concerned persons at Jagan's residence to remove the structures six months ago to carry out the footpath work.

"We have been telling them to remove the structures to facilitate footpath work. The residents of the colony have also complained about the encroachment of the footpath which caused inconvenience to the road users," the official told news agency PTI.

Reacting to the issue, YSR Congress party sources told PTI that the structures were purely temporary and made for the convenience of security personnel during rain and summer.

Notably, the demolition was carried out days after Jagan Reddy's Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) was drubbed by TDP's Chandrababu Naidu-led NDA in the recent Assembly elections.

The TDP has won 135 of the 175 seats, while the Jana Sena Party has bagged 21 and the BJP has 8, taking the total alliance tally to 163. The YSRCP could win just 12 seats.

(With PTI inputs)