Shabbir refutes role in wakf lands issue

HYDERABAD: Leader of opposition in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir on Friday strongly criticized deputy chief minister Md Mahmood Ali over allegations that the Congress leader was involved in benami land deals and caused loss to Wakf properties.
On Mahmood Ali’s claims that he damaged Wakf properties, Shabbir Ali furnished a list of lands allotted to nine different companies like Infosys, Manuu, Wipro, ISB, among others at Manikonda village and said all the allotments were done from 18-12-2000 to 21-11-2003 during TDP’s regime.Similarly, the APIIC allotted land to Lanco Infratech on 17-08-2005 through an International Competition Bidding. However, he said that time Mohammed Fareeduddin was the minister for wakf and presently, he is with the TRS. “I neither had revenue nor wakf portfolio during this period. It was only in April 2007 that I was made the in-charge for minorities welfare in addition to the I&PR and energy portfolios,” he said.
Reacting to Mahmood Ali’s comments made in Warangal that Lanco benefitted because Shabbir Ali’s son was a director in the company, he said his son was not associated with Lanco group of industries and was not involved in any deals with the company. The deputy chief minister should either prove the allegations within 24 hours or tender an apology for making baseless allegations, he further added.