274 kanals land retrieved, case registered
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 11: Half a dozen officials of Jammu Development Authority (JDA) including a Superintending Engineer and a Junior Engineer were injured when a group of Gujjars attacked them with stones and lathis after they retrieved 274 kanals land from the encroachers at village Kirpalpur in Phallayan Mandal area under the jurisdiction of Satwari police station this afternoon.
Police have registered an attempt to murder case at Satwari police station against 15 Gujjars, six of whom have been identified. Police conducted searches for them but all of them were absconding.
Official sources said a JDA team headed by its Vice Chairperson Ms Sarita Chouhan and Director Land Management Babu Ram had gone to Kirpalpur in Phallayan Mandal area following reports about encroachment on JDA land by the Gujjars.
Few days back also, the JDA team had visited the village.
Sources said a total of 274 kanals land has been retrieved in the villages from the possession of encroachers. Some structures, constructed by the encroachers, were also demolished.
“Today, when the JDA team was inspecting the retrieved land and its Engineers were busy identifying the spot for fencing to protect JDA land, the Gujjars started pelting stones on them and attack them with lathis’’, sources said, adding that half a dozen JDA officials including Superintending Engineer Tilak Raj were injured.
Police parties led by SP City (South) Rajeshwar Singh, SDPO Gandhi Nagar ML Kaith and SHO Satwari Abid Rafiqi rushed to the spot. Injured officials were admitted to the Government Medical College (GMC), Jammu.
Police parties with the help of field staff of JDA officials have identified five to seven Gujjars, who were involved in attack on the team. A total of 15 Gujjars had attacked the JDA team, police said, adding that a case under Section 307 RPC (attempt to murder) has been registered against all the accused at Satwari police station for further investigations.
Police parties conducted raids at Kirpalpur and several other places adjacent to it in Phallayan Mandal in search of the accused. However, all of them were absconding and have not been arrested so far.
Few days back, Vice Chairperson JDA Ms Sarita Chouhan and Deputy Commissioner, Jammu Sanjeev Verma had visited Ragoora and other places and vacated a large chunk of Government land from the possession of encroachers.
Sources said police personnel have been deployed at village Kirpalpur in Phallayan Mandal area to ensure that retrieved land was not captured again by the Gujjars.
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