PURI: A 10-member committee, led by Collector Arabind Agarwal, will conduct a probe into the Swargadwara land scam. Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC), Central division, AB Otta formed the committee after a three-hour meeting with the officials on Thursday.
The committee comprises Tehsildar and Sub Collector of Puri, land officers of Jagannath temple, settlement, consolidation and civic body officials. The RDC said the committee would submit its report within 10 days.
It was alleged that in 1899 AD, 16.4-acre land was recorded in favour of Lord Jagannath with nectar food (amrut manohi) status and the same was entrusted to Sankar Madhusudan Swamy, a saint in 1928 wherein the cremation was performed. The cremation land area, in course of time, has reduced to mere 465 decimals.
The committee would find out how the temple land got recorded in the names of other people, ascertain their identity and names of officials involved in recording their names without approaching the Jagannath temple authorities. The persons found guilty would be prosecuted in civil and criminal procedures, he added.
However, the ongoing development and expansion work of Swargadwara would run as per schedule, the RDC said. The State Government had allocated over `90 crore for acquisition of 1.5 acres of land for expansion of cremation ground, Collector Agarwal said. He ruled out relocation of cremation ground. The RDC also advised members to contact Shankaracharya of Gobardhan Peetha to get land records in their possession.
Addressing mediapersons on Thursday, Shankaracharya Swami Neeschalananada Sartaswati said during his tenure, no land was sold or transferred. The seer said he was in the dark about the status of the land. On the other hand, lawyers of Puri Bar Association and members of religious bodies were up in arms against the Government as some unscrupulous persons have advocated that Swargadwara be relocated.