Gurubari Bhoi, son of Panu Bhoi, had encroached 4.8 decimal of land at Pandara here and had been residing there doing cultivation since 1964.
According to the consolidated record of 1964, the land was encroached by him. It is alleged that the State Government has not given him the ownership of the land yet as he is a Dalit.
later when the land came under the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), the administration ordered him to remove the encroachment. But Panu Bhoi’s grandsons laxmidhar Bhoi, Niranjan Bhoi and Sudarshan Bhoi filed a case. later, the High Court directed the administration on October 10, 2001 not to raze their land.
To get the ownership, the Bhoi family had filed a civil suit in Civil Judge, Senior Division, Bhubaneswar, Court. But they are yet to get justice.
Notably, Ward-18 Corporator and Mayor Anant Narayan Jena has given the land to 25 to 30 families. “If the State Government fails to give the ownership of the land to us then we will stage a dharna in front of the Naveen Niwas,” said laxmidhar Bhoi at a Press meet here on Thursday.
Republican Party of India State chairman Shaikh Abdul Wali was present, among others, at the Press meet.