TNI Bureau: Odisha Soochana Adhikar Abhijan (OSAA), a forum of RTI activists, on Sunday brought serious land grabbing allegations of Government land by influential persons including politicians and IPS officers in the Capital City.
The land was illegally leased out in 1978 by then Tehsildar to influential persons. The lease was canceled by the then Bhubaneswar Sub Collector in 2002.
Thereafter, the stretch of 7.5 acre of Government land has been sold and resold as many as 27 times on the strength of a forged record of rights. The beneficiaries of the proceeds included four IPS officers.
According to the joint convenor of OSAA, the scale of the land scam is estimated at Rs 250 crore.
The matter surfaced after OSAA got information from Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and Bhubaneswar Tehsil offices through the RTI. The Government land has been mentioned in Khata number-780.
A land mafia named Nrusingha Prasad Sundaray (Babina) fraudulently sold the patches of land. Sale deeds were made in the names of former DGP, Odisha Sanjeev Marik’s son Sudeep Marik (in 2009), former Director of Intelligence R.P Koche (in 2010), former Additional DGP Shyam Sundar Hansdah’s wife and son (in 2011) and former Director of CBI M. Nageswara Rao’s wife and son (in 2011), including several others, OSAA stated.
Shailabala, relative of Nrusingha had sold a patch of 90 decimals (in 2011) to IPS officer Hansdah. The IPS officer has also constructed a building on another Government land in front of Traffic PS-II, OSAA functionaries alleged.