KOLKATA: Jhargram District administration handed over pattas to the members of the Lodha community on Monday which had been encroached upon by the land sharks.
Two civic volunteers involved in selling the land have been arrested and they are in jail custody. The Superintendent of Police has formed SIT to probe into the matter.
Kalyan Sarkar, additional SP (HQ) is heading the SIT. Babulal Mahato, SDO Sadar under whose initiative the land was recovered in October said a person will be engaged to give coaching to the children of the Lodha families. Jhargram District administration recovered 2.52 acres of land meant for the people belonging to the Lodha tribal community which had been sold to different people. The price of the land is Rs 8 crore. 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 Dhananjay 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.