BHOPAL: A controversy has erupted in Madhya Pradesh following a social media post by Yash Vardhan Singh, brother-in-law of General Bipin Rawat who died in a helicopter crash.
In a Facebook post, the younger brother of General Rawat’s wife Madhulika alleged that on the day the Late CDS was cremated in Delhi, local authorities in Shahdol district, without any notification, started work in connection with a national highway project on a piece of land owned by the family near their house and during the process, caused damage to the samadhis of his grandfather and grandmother.
“We are always ready to serve national development, but why couldn’t the authorities follow the proper procedure of notification-compensation and wait for us to return from Delhi?” Singh questioned.
As the Congress hit out at the state government, MP minister Narottam Mishra said he had instructed the Shahdol SP that no police action should be taken without informing him.
If the allegations are found true, those found responsible would be dealt with sternly, he added.
The family of General Rawat's wife Madhulika Rawat, who was also killed in the chopper crash along with her husband and 11 others, all from the armed forces, in Tamil Nadu on December 8, hails from Sohagpur town in the Shahdol district, some 490 km away from the Madhya Pradesh capital.
After Yash Vardhan Singh raised this allegation in a Facebook post, Shahdol district collector Vandana Vaidya said the road construction work had been stopped till the family's return from New Delhi.
She said the family was already paid the compensation for the acquired land.
In his Facebook post, Yash Vardhan Singh wrote, "Taking advantage of the situation on the day when last rites of my brother-in-law General Bipin Rawat and sister Madhulika Rawat were being performed, the Samadhis and trees in the premises of our personal residence were destroyed for the construction of national highway in Shahdol on the orders of Government of India".
Seeking justice, Yash Wardhan Singh also claimed that the local police were told to register a case in the event of the family's interference in this work.
In a statement, the district collector said 0.838 hectares of land owned by (Yash Vardhan) Singh was acquired for the construction of the national highway (No 43) in Sohagpur in 2015 and he was paid Rs 2.14 crore as compensation.
The notification for the acquisition of .056 hectares of land for the slip road of this national highway has been issued, she said.
"I talked to Yash Vardhan Singh and got the spot inspected by officials. Samadhi was displaced somewhere else earlier and at that place, the construction of the road is in an advanced stage," she said.
Vaidya said that Yash Vardhan Singh was saying that he didn't get the compensation for the trees and represented the case in SDM court through his lawyer.
"We have stopped the road construction work in that part. I have told him that we will hear their case after return from Delhi and sort it out," she said.
India's first chief of defence staff and his wife Madhulika were cremated with full military honours at the Brar Square crematorium in Delhi Cantonment on December 10.
(With PTI Inputs)