HC seeks status report on land grab probe

CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Thursday directed the State Government to file its status report on the high-level administrative inquiry into the alleged grabbing of prime land in the Abhinab Bidanasi area by the land mafia in connivance with Revenue Department employees. The division bench of Justices BP Das and  MM Das has instructed the Government to submit the report by the next date of hearing on January 5. If the report is not found satisfactory, the probe would be handed over to CBI, the bench has warned. The bench had earlier this month had issued showcause notice to the Government asking why the case should not be handed over to the CBI.   Advocate General Ashok Mohanty on Thursday submitted that a high-level administrative inquiry under the Chairmanship of Revenue Secretary was underway to get to the roots of the land grabbing issue. The bench took note of the submission and sought the status report by the next date of hearing.  While the members of the Bar expressed apprehensions that the ongoing probe would not be fruitful as there was involvement of influential people, the bench said if required it would be handed over to the CBI, amicus curiae PR Das said. It has been alleged that around 400 acre of prime land in Abhinab Bidanasi, Tulasipur and Bidanasi localities have been grabbed by the mafia in nexus with the Revenue Department officials. The modus operandi of the mafia was to get buyers for the Government land and help them construct their houses following which they were prodded to file encroachment cases under the Orissa Prevention of Land Encroachment Act. The district administration had turned a blind eye to the illegal activity carried out on such a massive scale, members of the Bar had alleged. The HC, earlier, had also directed the Collector to transfer all the revenue inspectors and amins under the Cuttack Sadar tehsil under whose jurisdiction the alleged encroachments and land grabbing occurred. The orders have been complied with.