Hyderabad: The Paigahs were one of the prime aristocrat families in Hyderabad during the Nizam era and they had huge tracts of land in and around the city. Paigah property is spread across about 848 acres in Hafeezpet in the IT corridor with survey nos. 77, 78, 79 and 80. With IT boom and development in Serilingampally the land has been changing hands in the last three decades amidst violence.
Atleast two murders were recorded for this land. In 1989 a rival to the Khurshid Jah Paigah family eliminated one Saber Chows while he was in Friday prayers. In 2002, one Prabhakar Rayudu, who supported the family against encroachers, was murdered by few youth.
According to Mr. Mohammad Moizuddin Khan, a successor to the Khurshid Jah Paigah land, the family had got favourable orders on the land. However the land is still in the possession of encroachers and the family has been fighting encroachers who occupied land by creating fabricated documents, forged documents, illegal registrations and mutations of thousands of acres.
Family had been fighting against Hyderabad Businessman Ponnapula Sanjeeva Prasad also known as “Goldstone Prasad”, who was earlier given the power of attorney by the Cyrus Investments to secure rights over its purchased lands, buildings.
According to Moizuddin Khan Prasad created fabricated documents without any proper link documents. Prasad has been claiming the Paigah lands at Hashmathpet land with his benamis since decades. Though Paigahs have submitted all documents to courts, Prasad was successful in delaying the case with the help of various officials. In 2014, the Supreme Court declared some land as patta lands, favouring the successors of Paigahs and ruling against Prasad and his accomplice.
Meanwhile the company has accused Prasad of misusing its power of attorney given to him, by illegally selling lands belonging to the company by forging documents. Prasad is now currently involved in a legal battle with Cyrus Investments Pvt.Ltd over lands worth of crores of rupees. Cyrus Investments which was established in 1923 bought lands from the heirs of the Nizam of Hyderabad, Nawab Mir Osman Ali Khan, located in Hafeezpur and Hashmatpet in the year 1967.