Boards reclaiming land disappear in hours
PROPERTY SCAM Alleged mafia strikes again at lands which were illegally transferred on fudged records in ₹600 crore scam, govt starts cancelling deals
NEWDELHI: On Tuesday (November 21), Delhi government officials erected boards at plot (Khasra) number 1354 to identify the land belonging to the government.
Plot 1354 is one of the properties whose records were allegedly tampered, the ownership changed and the plot sold to private individuals. The boards to declare the land as belonging to the government was erected on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday morning, when officials visited the site, the boards had been stolen.
Suspecting the handiwork of the land mafia who allegedly changed government records to grab the land, the local block development officer has filed a police complaint.
“The land mafia is so active that the board was removed within hours. We have submitted details to the police. They are yet to register a case,” said an official.
POLICE YET TO ACT AGAINST LAND MAFIA
When the first case of tampering and alleged change of records came to light, the divisional commissioner ordered an inquiry. On the basis of inquiry report, where at least two government officials were accused of tampering, the Delhi Police were informed.
An FIR under section 420(cheating) was registered at the Neb Sarai police station but till date police are yet to make any arrests.
HT accessed a letter sent to Delhi Police by sub-divisional magistrate asking them to invoke stricter sections in the case.
Police are yet to, however, add those stringent sections.
In the letter sent by Ankita Chakravarty, the then sub- divisional magistrate (Saket), the police have been asked to add sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, as it appeared ‘government official has committed an offence, by which gains have accrued to a private person(sic).”
“If there is a thorough police investigation, the extent of the scam and involvement of government officials will be clear. If the officials involved are arrested and interrogated, the suspected role of others will also become clear. This scam is clearly big and goes beyond these 13 plots,” said an official.
Additional deputy commissioner of police south Chinmoy Biswal said, “An FIR has already been registered in the case. Our team is investigating the case and conducting a thorough probe. We will take necessary action in due course.”
LAND REVENUE DEPT EXAMINING RECORDS IN ASOLA
After the Delhi divisional commissioner’s order to review every Gram Sabha record across the city, a team of officials at the district magistrate’s office in south are reviewing the Khatauni and Khasra Girdawari records. The tampering in the 13 plots were allegedly done in the first 6-7 months of 2015, because Khasra Girdawari (bi-annual inspection) records prior to 2015 shows the land as belonging to the gram sabha. “We suspect that the same tampering has been done in years before 2015. Some of our officers are working round-the-clock to identify similar cases,” said a government official.
NEW MAP BEING DRAWN
A Shujra(shajra), official map prepared from a 1908 record of the village’s physical representation and number of plots, was found slashed when revenue department officers started inspecting the records. The south Delhi’s revenue department has started mapping the village on the basis of their field report, which contains measurement and details of every plot. Officials believe the tampering was done by government officials because the map is government property, stored in the patwari’s (keeper of records) office.