Historical palace Basanta Niwas, established by Parla Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati, is being grabbed by the land mafia.
The land sharks have begun to sell the 21-acre land of the palace, as the State Tourism department, under whose charge the palace has been kept, has failed to take any security measures to protect the monument and its lands.
Sources said the local Revenue and Tehsil officials are hand-in-glove with the land mafia who are stone marking some parts of the palace’s land to make plots for sale.
Gajapati Narayana Dev, was the key personality in forming the independent Orissa. Often called the architect of the modern Orissa state, the district is evidently named after him. He was also the honorary captain in the First World War.