Hyderabad: Forty-three property owners, including an Adibatla municipality councillor in Ranga Reddy district of Telangana, were booked for having unauthorized illegal water connections.
On February 4, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) vigilance wing, commanded by chief vigilance officer M Ravi Chandan Reddy and inspector P Tirupathi, raided flats and individual residences in four separate places in Turkayamjal, Ranga Reddy district.
The first search was undertaken on the property of Ilaiah, who was a councillor in Pragathi Nagar Township at the time and discovered unauthorized water connections.
As a result of the raid, other residences were also raided. The vigilance wing stormed two distinct flats in Apple Colony, Injapur, and lodged criminal complaints against 39 flat owners and four persons from individual dwellings.
During the verification of these premises, the vigilance wing discovered that these property owners had maliciously damaged the pipeline laid by HMWS&SB and installed illegal water connections on their own which is used for diversion of drawn water and diverting the water from the last few years by illegally connecting the water connections, according to a vigilance official.
Criminal proceedings were filed against the persons under sections 430 and 269 of the Indian Penal Code in response to a complaint from the responsible manager of HMWS&SB.