Jhargram dist admin recovers over 2 acres meant for Lodha community

KOLKATA: Jhargram District administration has recovered 2.52 acres of land meant for the people belonging to the Lodha tribal community which had been sold to different people.

FIRs had been launched against Dhanapati Pal and Dhananjay Pal, two civic volunteers, who are the kingpin of the land-grabbing racket.

In 2003, land measuring 2.52 acres was bought from Malati Mahato by the Lodha Development Board. It was distributed among the people belonging to the Lodha community.

However, the land was not registered in their names and the final handover did not take place.

In 2020, one Pradip Mahata prepared a false deed and claimed that he had purchased the land from Malati Mahato in 2003. In 2021, Mahata sold that plot of land to Dhannanjay Pal.

Complaints were made to Babulal Mahato SDO, Sadar about land grabbing. During the inquiry, it was found that the land deed made by Pradip Mahata on the purchase of 2.52 acres of land from Malati Mahato was fake. He did not purchase the land as the land was bought by the district administration under the Lodha Development scheme. However, initially, the Lodha people who had been allotted the plot could not be located and when spotted they refused to come as they had been threatened by the land mafia.

On Wednesday, a team led by Babulal Mahato and other senior state government officials, police and members of the Lodha development board went to the area and acquired the land.

On Thursday, the original Lodhas who had been allotted the land visited the area under government protection. The land deed of Pradip Mahata has been cancelled and an inquiry against the officials of the Land and Land Reforms department involved with the scam will start soon.