Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Saturday registered an FIR against Akhilesh Meban, the chairman of a Jabalpur based Educational Society and former tehsildar Hari Singh Dhurve for allegedly transferring leasehold municipal land to private ownership, thereby causing financial loss to Jabalpur Municipal Corporation.
The land, located in a prime commercial area of Jabalpur, is worth Rs 3.5 crore.
According to EOW officials, case has been registered under Sections 318(4), 316(5) and 61(2) of BNS, Section 7(c) of Prevention of Corruption Act and further investigation is underway.
A complaint in this connection was filed by Rajkumar, a resident of GRC Office Mess. He said that educational society conspired with officials to misuse government land allotted at concessional rates.
Investigation revealed that Madhya Pradesh government allotted 7,500 square feet of land under Jabalpur Municipal Corporation to Educational Society on a 30-year lease period for educational purposes.
The lease deed clearly specified that the land could not be used for any other activity without prior municipal approval. After the lease expired in 2020, it was renewed on April 22, 2022, again for educational use. However, instead of running a school the Society allegedly began constructing a hospital on the site without permission.
EOW officials found that during the construction phase, Meban in alleged criminal conspiracy with the then Adhartal tehsildar Hari Singh Dhurve, fraudulently secured ownership rights of the lease land without valid legal documents and thus misled the municipal authorities.
