Accusing Rudraprayag MlA and former State Cabinet Minister Harak Singh Rawat of illegally acquiring about 107 bigha land in Sahaspur area using false documentation and misusing his position as the then Revenue Minister in 2002, the Jan Sangharsh Morcha will be approaching the Governor’s office demanding an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the case of alleged land grab by the former Minister.
In the past, the district authorities had found the said documents dubious with the official concerned recommending the lodging of a first information report in the case.
Addressing the media here on Sunday, the JSM head and former vice chairman of Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam, Raghunath Singh Negi said, “In 2002, the then Revenue minister Harak Singh Rawat misused his office and orchestrated land-grab of about 107 bigha land area at Shankarpur area of Sahaspur in Dehradun district on the basis of a fabricated power of attorney. There are glaring anomalies in the will dated September 18, 2002 and power of attorney dated December 5, 2002 wherein the purported lady owner of the land has been named as Savitri Devi Verma in one and Sushila Rani in the other documentation. The thumb prints in the documents are also considerably different. The signatory named as witness in the the power of attorney documents- BS Verma- was a person hired and lured with inducements to sign the document and is mos probably a resident of Vikasnagar.”
“In the report of inquiry ordered by the Dehradun district magistrate, the death of Sushila Rani Verma is stated to have occurred in 1974 with the administration finding the said documents dubious. The Government advocate (Revenue) had also recommended lodging of an FIR against those guilty of fabricating documentation in this case. However, no action had been taken in this case so far. Since this case was suppressed when the Congress led Government was in office, we are of the view that with recent imposition of President’s rule in Uttarakhand mitigating political interference, the Governor should act as required to order a CBI inquiry in this case,” stressed Negi.