Stung by the illegal sale of its property located in the periphery of its academy located in Mussoorie hills, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has started the process of registering the land of the academy in its name by way of mutation. Some people in connivance with revenue and forest department officials had taken advantage of the fact that the land which was acquired by the government for setting up an academy for ITBP in 1988 had remained un-transferred in the name of the paramilitary force.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT), now investigating the case, is learnt to have zeroed in on more than 30 unscrupulous sales of the land in the vicinity of the academy.
The ITBP officials remained tightlipped about the land scam. However, it is learnt that the senior officers of the paramilitary force have initiated the process of completing the mutation of the land to have it rightly transferred in the name of ITBP.
The revelation of the gory plot of having the defence force- owned land sold multiple times has triggered shock. The armed force veterans have sounded outraged over the audacity of the land mafias as the scam exposed.
Brigadier R S Rawat (Rtd) said that ITBP should have been extra vigilant in this case. He said that sale of land in immediate vicinity of defence setups should be prohibited as a security measure.
Colonel P l Parashar (rtd) said, “The land mafias turning so audacious is a shame for the state. It also exposes the laid-back attitude of the authorities concerned. It again shows that the rot has eaten its deep in the system.”
Another high- ranking retired army officer said that the sale of land near defence establishments and premier academies should be done after proper checks coupled with extra care so that these institutes are safe.