Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The district administration on Wednesday foiled an attempt to develop an illegal colony on government land worth about Rs 40 crore in the Sirpur area.
The administration demolished structures raised on the land and registered an FIR against the alleged land mafia involved in the case.
According to official information, the sub-divisional officer (revenue), Malharganj, and the tehsildar, Malharganj, inspected government land in Village Sirpur.
Revenue records showed that the land is registered in the name of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Welfare Department.
The inquiry revealed that Ajju Khan, son of Bhuru Khan and a resident of 17 Samrat Nagar, had demarcated small plots on the government land and falsely projected it as private property.
He allegedly attempted to develop an illegal colony named 'New Laxmi Nagar' by selling plots through notarised agreements.
Officials found that land under Survey No. 37/1 is registered in the name of Siddhnath Mishrilal, son of Ganpat, and is not owned by Ajju Khan. Despite this, the government land was allegedly portrayed as private property and handed over to others.
Considering the seriousness of the matter, Chandan Nagar police registered a case against Ajju Khan on July 27 under Sections 318(4) and 316(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
During the inspection, officials also found Zarina Bee, wife of Anwar, Babli, wife of Kailash, and Yasmin Mansoori, wife of Sakir, residing in tin-shed houses on the government land.
Revenue cases were registered against them and eviction orders were issued as per rules.
Earlier, on May 4, encroachments and fencing created by carving out small plots on the same government land by Ali Mohammad, Wasim Pathan, Shahrukh Qureshi, Sabri Nabi, Girish Akhande, Anwar, Farhabi and Shahida were removed with the assistance of the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) removal team and the police.
The investigation also revealed that the land mafia sold more than 100 plots at about Rs 5 lakh each, allegedly cheating citizens of over Rs 5 crore.
