Revenue Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil accepted in the assembly on Tuesday that the land agents have created a cartel in Palghar and they are looting the tribals over the land compensation issue. He assured the house that the matter will be investigated by Special Investigation Team if the need arises.
CPM MLA Vinod Nikole raised the issue. He said, “there is one tribal family who gave their land for the Mumbai Baroda high-speed railway. They were given compensation of Rs2 crore on paper and only one crore was given to them. The remaining amount was taken by agents.”
MLA Rajesh Patil said that similar incidents are taking place everywhere. “There are many cases where real land owners didn't get the compensation value. This needs to be probed by the government,” demanded Patil.
BJP MLA Manisha Choudhari also said, “There are two retired officers of the revenue department who are running this cartel. They are harassing even retired army professionals too,” she said.
Patil in his reply said that the state government is aware of the issues. “We have already taken action in a few incidents. We will arrange a meeting during the session time,” Patil said.
