LUCKNOW: While his name cropped up in the FIR against Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh regarding alleged financial fraud, superstar Amitabh Bachchan is once again embroiled in an old land scam and faces an FIR in Barabanki district adjoining the state capital.
Daulatpur village head Rajkumari Singh has filed the FIR against Bachchan alleging that the controversial land, on which the superstar had announced establishment of a girls’ degree college named after his daughter-in-law and actor Aishwarya Rai in January 2008, has now been gifted to the Nishtha Foundation which is run by SP MP and actor Jayaprada. The village head has alleged that after a controversy arose during the regime of BSP chief Mayawati, Bachchan’s then representative Vinay Shukla had written to her on July 5, 2007 that the actor had decided to gift the land to the gramsabha. Singh had also given approval for the deal.
The land, belonging to the panchayat meant for distribution among the landless poor, was earlier fraudulently transferred to Bachchan by the district administration with fake documents showing that he was a farmer and wanted to purchase land in Pune, Maharashtra.
Bachchan had later bought more land when he planned to establish the girls degree college. These plots belonged to Rajkumari and others.
Rajkumari’s son Munna Singh said that since the foundation was laid for the establishment of the degree college nothing has happened there.
The event was attended by the superstar’s family, Mulayam, Amar and even National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah.
But Bachchan’s new representative Rajesh Rishikesh Yadav on October 23 gifted all the six plots of land to the Nishtha Foundation and given the related documents to its secretary Devendra Kumar.
Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order) Brij Lal told media persons on Wednesday that an inquiry would launched into the whole affair.
District Superintendent of Police Alok Singh had earlier told Express that a committee would be constituted in consultation with District Magistrate Vikas Gothalwal to study all the documents related to the case in the light of the FIR lodged by Rajkumari Singh and action would be taken accordingly.
Interestingly, after the FIR became public knowledge, Devendra Singh has been quoted as saying that the Nishtha Foundation would gift the land to the panchayat and the process has started with a letter to the DM. The DM, however, denied having received any such letter.