Despite court orders land mafia in connivance with some government officials according to locals are busy in grabbing the state land.A petition had been filed in the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir asking its intervention to save 500 Kanals of state land, adjacent to District Court Complex in Batamaloo, from land grabbers. The petition filed by inhabitants of Sir Syedabad Colony Bemina through Muhammad Farooq had prayed for directions to respondent state to order probe preferably by Centre Bureau of Investigation into the alleged land grab. The petitioners further prayed that the respondents particularly the revenue and municipal authorities be directed mot to issue any revenue extracts and building permission of any sort on the land in question. The petition reads: “In Bemina on the right side of the road leading from Tatoo Ground/Bemina Crossing to Bemina Bye Pass, the land management supervised by Srinagar Development Authority (SDA), on its left side, a huge chunk of state land (Kahcharai) common land is left to the people to be grabbed and encroached by land grabbers/mafia.
Despite Court passing orders directing the government to preserve this state land, the land grabbers according to locals have once again become active and are busy in grabbing it. The locals told CNS that this state land including Kahcharai/common land has once again all along been grabbed and unscrupulous elements through encroachment in one way or the other which is not possible unless they have the active support and the backing of the official machinery.“We are surprised why government particularly the Revenue Officials are silent and don’t initiate action against the land mafia. Being responsible citizens of Jammu and Kashmir, “we sincerely appeal to the authorities to stop the encroachment and take strict action against the active land mafia,” they said. (CNS)