HC asks Collector to probe into land grab charges

"In case, the report of the District Collector is not forthcoming or found unsatisfactory, we would not hesitate to handover the case to state crime branch police," ordered a bench comprising Justice B P Das and Justice M M Das. The High Court also directed the District Collector to immediately transfer the concerned Revenue Inspectors (RIs) and Amins before conducting the enquiry in order to ensure transparency in the exercise.

This order of the High Court came in the wake of concerns expressed by members of the bar alleging that prime lands measuring nearly 400 acres in the Abhinav Bidanasi, Tulasipur and Bidanasi locality have been deceitfully grabbed by the land mafias under the nose of the district administration.

The members of the bar had brought to the notice of the High Court that land mafia in connivance with local revenue staff help unsuspecting buyers to encroach upon government lands. Subsequently, they help the buyers to construct houses on the same plot and insist them to file Encroachment cases under Orissa Prevention of Land Encroachment Act.