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How bureaucrats cheated tribals, turning Sonebhadra into a den (IANS INSIGHT) of corruption |
BY DEEPAK SHARMA
Several thousand acres of land belonging to poor tribal
farmers in Sonebhadra were usurped by land mafia in an unholy nexus with
bureaucrats. Wednesday's carnage in Sonebhadra's Ghorawal tehsil, in which 10
tribal farmers were killed, was the outcome of one such case where revenue
records were fudged by an IAS officer at the behest of the local land mafia to
claim more than 600 bighas of land worth over Rs 48 crore.
An insight into the frauds committed by revenue officers in Uttar Pradesh's
tribal land reveals that Sonebhadra has of late become the most sought-after
place for corrupt bureaucrats, politicians and mafia dons to buy land at
throwaway prices.
Just a few hundred yards from the spot of Wednesday's killings in Village Umbha,
another big chunk of land measuring 600 bighas in village Vishambri, was usurped
by senior officials of the Chakbandi department of the UP government.
"The tribals had approached me to file a case to unravel the racket. On the
instructions of the court, a subsequent enquiry revealed that Chakbandi
officials had fudged revenue records in which the owner of the land was shown as
a dead person. When the real owner (a tribal) was produced in court, the
conspiracy was unmasked resulting in an FIR registered against 27 Chakbandi
officials," said Vikas Shakya, a prominent lawyer practising in the District
Court, Sonebhadra.
According to Shakya, in yet another case of fraud, records relating to 14 bighas
of land on the highway (near Ultratech Cement factory) were fudged by a Kanoongo
(lower rung officer of the revenue department). "The kanoongo tampered revenue
records and registered the land in the name of his two sons (in back date), who
were not even born on the date of registry," Shakya told IANS over phone from
Sonebhadra.
In fact, officials who were supposed to enforce Forest Rights Acts(FRA) and
Survey Settlement in favour of tribals, blatantly cheated the poor farmers for
years. Former BJP MP, Chote Lal Kharwar, said that behind Wednesday's killings
over land dispute, a corrupt lobby of bureaucrats played a key role.
Kharwar identified the IAS officer (name withheld), who allegedly bribed the
revenue officers and got the land in the name of his family members. The IAS
officer later sold the land to Gram Pradhan Yagdutt, the prime accused in the
killing of 10 tribal farmers.
The former MP said that a few months back in February 2019, Yagdutt had
attempted to take forcible possession of the land from tribal farmers. However,
the local administration and police slept over the complaint of the tribal
farmers.
Over hundred civil suits relating to fudged revenue records are pending in
different courts of Sonebhadra. Social activist and Hindi writer Vijay Shankar
Chaturvedi told IANS that one of the reasons why Maoists got a foothold in the
hills of Sonebhadra was land disputes where tribals felt cheated by local
officials.
"During Settlement Survey initiated by the Supreme Court in the mid 80s,
fraudulent entries were made into revenue records in favour of local mafia and
government officials. Instead of giving possession to tribals, as per the
survey, the land was sold at throwaway prices...somewhere around Rs 1000 per
bigha to bureaucrats, politicians, corporate houses and mafia dons. At present
the price per bigha ranges from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7 lakh per bigha, depending on
the location of the plot," said Chaturvedi, who has penned two books on Naxal
activities in the region.
According to him, tribals have been cheated repeatedly by civil and forests
officials. Successive governments had done nothing substantial in breaking the
nexus of bureaucrats and land mafia.
"Let me tell you, when Pandit Nehru came here in 1954 he was spellbound by the
natural beauty of Sonebhadra and had said that this place should be called the
Switzerland of India. However, as years passed by, this place has now turned
into a den of corruption," said Vijay Shankar Chaturvedi.
Meanwhile UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath assured the State Assembly that a
high level committee had been formed to probe into the revenue records and
ascertain forged entries made to usurp land of the tribals. The Chief Minister
said that any bureaucrat or politician found involved in the racket would be
brought to book.
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TAGS:
Sonebhadra,
Sonebhadra carnage,
Sonebhadra killing,
Sonebhadra land mafia,
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