Central Division Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) AB Ota after a marathon meeting with officials here on Thursday discussed the issue of grabbing of Swagadwar cremation ground land.
Ota said a committee would be formed to investigate the controversial issue. The RDC held discussions with revenue, temple, land settlement and civic body officials discussed the Swargdwar land scam in which more than ten acres of land was fraudulent registered in favour of some businessmen and influential people, reducing the cremation area from 16 acre to only 465 decimals.
The RDC constituted a ten-member body including land experts from revenue, land settlement, land consolidation, Shree Jagannath Temple and local municipality headed by District Collector Arabind Agarwal to conduct a probe into the land grab and submit a report within ten days.
The committee would find out how the land which was in the name of lord Jagannath got recorded in others names and to ascertain their identity. The persons found guilty of committing fraud would be prosecuted under civil and criminal procedures, he added.
The ongoing development and expansion work of the Swargdwar would go ahead as per the plan RDC said. The State Government had allocated over Rs 90 crore rupees for acquisition of 1.5 acres of land for expansion of cremation ground, informed the Collector. He ruled out relocation of cremation ground elsewhere.
In 1928 an area of 16,400 decimal land of lord Jagannath with Amrut Manohi (nectar food) status was entrusted to the Sankar Madhusdan Tirthswamy, the then abbot of the Gobardhan Peeth. The RDC also asked the members to contact the Sankaracharya of Gobardhan Mutt to get land records in their possession.
Sankaracharya Swami Nischalananada Saraswati in a media briefing on the day said that during his tenure no land was sold or transferred. The seer said he was in dark about the status of the land. However, he blamed the State Government for the land grab, saying it did not take any action against it.