Mrunal Manmay Dash

The Saheed Nagar police on Monday arrested two notorious land mafias in connection with multiple land grabbing cases at Kesura and Jharpada area in the Odisha capital Bhubaneswar.

Following complaints by the land owners, the Saheed Nagar police sprang into action and arrested the accused who have been identified as Sukadev Martha and his brother Dukhishyam Martha from Jharpada area under Laxmisagar police limits in the smart city.

The Police issued a press release in this connection that stated, “Considering the grievances of many land owners in Kesura and Jharapada area Bhubaneswar UPD, Police has shown zero tolerance towards the land mafia and land grabbing groups.”

As per the police, the accused duo are infamous in the locality for grabbing land, extortion and creating disturbance over the peaceful possession of others’ land. They used money and muscle power to extort huge amount of money from the land owners.

After encroaching the land of people who have recently purchased in the locality to pay up to settle their issue. They are involved in a series of land grabbing cases, the police said.

It is pertinent to mention here that the land owners affected by the accused duo had staged an agitation near Ram Temple in Bhubaneswar on last Friday demanding action against the Martha brothers.

Speaking to OTV, a land owner, Mrutyunjay Mishra said, “At least 55 people have been affected by these mafia brothers. They had demolished the boundary walls belonging to 14-15 land owners and constructed one big boundary wall around our land.”

“The Martha brothers restricted our access to the land. Whenever we tried to gain access, they threatened us with sharp weapons and made us leave the spot,” he added.

Mishra further said, “We have been complaining since 2020 but police had turned a deaf ear towards our grievances until now. They have arrested the accused only after we staged an agitation and met the DCP in this connection.”

The Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Bhubaneswar appealed the land owners who are facing problems from land mafia, hooligans or extortion groups to contact the Police immediately for help and redressal of their grievances.

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