Nitesh Kumar Sahoo

The promptness of Soro Tehsildar Ashok Kumar Das has helped the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) to foil miscreants' attempt to grab the land of Lord Jagannath in Balasore district.

As per reports, some unidentified persons had applied to the Tehsildar of Soro to complete a land mutation, which belongs to Lord Jagannath in their favour by allegedly producing fake letters of Shree Jagannatha Temple Administration (SJTA), Puri. The miscreants also attached a false judgement of the Supreme Court and a guideline stating the rationalisation of land kisam and transfer of the property belonging to Lord Jagannath.

However, the Tehsildar sensed foul in the matter after looking at the signatures on the documents. On October 16, the Tehsildar wrote a letter to the SJTA to verify the authenticity of the documents and the signatures on them. 

Meanwhile, SJTA verified the documents and declared those to be fake. The administration denied any approval of land transfer in favour of any person. Following that the SJTA on Monday filed a complaint with the Singhadwar police in connection with the matter, informed sources.

"When we began the land mutation process, I sensed something foul. I informed the matter to administration and demanded clarification about the documents whether those were authentic or not. Later, the administration clarified that the produced documents were forged and further said to file a complaint against them while they have also filed an FIR," said Ashok Kumar Das, Tehsildar, Soro.

"We will investigate the matter and take strict actions against the persons involved in the matter," he added.

SJTA Administrator Ajay Kumar Jena said, "We received a letter from the Tehsildar about the matter and were requested to verify the authenticity of the documents. We are investigating the matter and have filed a police complaint as the produced documents were fake."

Meanwhile, the Convenor of Vitamati Adhikar Manch, Srikanta Parija said, "A group is certainly involved in the illegal act. The seals and signatures on the forged documents hints at possible involvement of SJTA official in the crime. A high-level inquiry must be conducted to find out the same."

scrollToTop