The district administration HAS geared up to recover hundreds of acres of prime land worth over a thousand crores of rupees grabbed by the land sharks in connivance with some unscrupulous revenue officials. It has come to the notice of the administration that some powerful politicians and builders have manipulated the Government land records and got the land recorded in favour of them. It happened in the Balukhand Khata no 109 (now 151), involving near about 300 acres of valuable property located along side the Puri Konark Marine Drive road, barely 4 km from the city.
Earlier, in response to a complaint, Collector Arabind Agarwal had instituted a team of Revenue staff to ascertain the facts. It was found that the land stood recorded in favour of the State Government in 1927. Surprisingly, in 1977 land settlement and consolidation, some politicians and land grabbers managed to record the entire land in their names and some have sold the land to gullible customers.
later, the Collector directed the district sub registrar to stop registration and sale of property and issued show cause to the land owners to present their documents. As none could file a reply, the district administration resolved to file an appeal in the Commissioner’s court to declare the land pattas void. This has spread panic among the land mafias. And, even after banning of sale and transfer of land by the Collector, they managed to transact six sale deeds in the sub registrar office. Sources say there were more such cases involving hundreds of acres of Government land grabbed by powerful land mafias. It is demanded that a thorough probe be conducted into the land transfer case and the guilty booked.