*Open FIR being lodged to expose real grabbers
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Jan 7: Foiling the new modus operandi of the land grabbers, the Jammu district administration has got over 51 kanals of prime State land retrieved from the encroachers in the outskirts of Jammu city and an open FIR is being lodged tomorrow in order to expose the mafia behind the attempt.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that two days back Deputy Commissioner Jammu, Ajeet Kumar Sahu received a telephonic complaint from some unknown persons about the attempt being made by land mafia to encroach upon the prime State land in village Ghaink under Gharota Niabat.
The Deputy Commissioner immediately directed Tehsildar Jammu to personally visit the village along with other concerned officers to verify the situation on the ground and taking necessary action against the encroachers.
During the spot visit, the Tehsildar Jammu and other Revenue officials found around 40 Myanmar nationals indulging in construction of Kullas (temporary sheds) on 51 kanals and 13 marlas of State land situated near the under construction Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya. The matter was immediately brought to the notice of Deputy Commissioner, who issued directions for eviction of encroachers and even asked the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Jammu to provide necessary assistance to the revenue team in their operation.
The revenue team headed by Tehsildar Jammu and Naib Tehsildar concerned pressed JCB machine into service and got all the already constructed and under-construction temporary sheds razed during the day long operation, sources said, adding there was no resistance from the Myanmar nationals in view of police deployment during the anti-encroachment operation.
During the preliminary investigation into the encroachment attempt on Rs 1.50 crore worth prime State land, it came to fore that land-grabbers, whose identity could not be established immediately, had adopted new modus operandi to encroach upon the land, sources said, adding the land mafia had brought the Myanmar nationals illegally staying in the areas surrounding Narwal and Railway Station with the promise to provide them place for construction of kullas free of cost.
Stating that the motive behind taking Myanmar nationals from these places and helping them in construction of large number of kullas was to grab the State land, sources said, “this was the new modus operandi of the land-mafia. Moreover, this strategy conveys that land-mafia doesn’t want to leave any stone unturned to get the State land encroached”. They, however, said that the timely action by the district administration has given a strong message to the mafia.
About the persons behind this attempt, sources said, “though identification of real land-grabbers could not be established immediately yet an open FIR is being lodged with Gharota Police tomorrow for investigation”, adding “the local people would also be approached to ascertain the identity of the persons, who had been keeping eye on this land”.
“Had the district administration not taken timely action, the situation on this land would have been like that of Gole Gujaral”, sources said, adding “keeping in view the prime location of the land, the administration will try to get the same used for construction of building or any other complex by any of the Government department”.
According to the sources, the administration has decided to take stern action against all those involved in the encroachment of State land in any part of the district.
It is pertinent to mention here that huge influx of Myanmar nationals and their continuous stay in different parts of Jammu is also a danger from security point of view besides their use for encroachment of State land.
“Several security agencies have written to the Union Government a number of times mentioning that influx of Myanmar and Bangladeshi nationals is fraught with danger as they can easily become tool at the hands of anti-national elements in their nefarious designs”, sources said while stressing that a strategy should be chalked out to check their influx in future.
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