BARGARH: A member of the land mafia allegedly involved in fraudulent acquisition of farmland and destroying standing paddy crops at Tentlapali village in Bargarh district was arrested on Wednesday.
The accused was identified as Toufique Khan (38). ASP, Tapan Mohanty said Khan was nabbed from Dhenkanal. Since he complained of health issues, he was initially admitted to Bargarh district headquarters hospital and later shifted to VIMSAR, Burla. However, we was brought back to Bargarh on Thursday day and forwarded to court in the evening.
According to reports, the land mafia fraudulently acquired a large patch of land registered in the name of multiple farmers, without their consent and covered large tracts with standing paddy crops, almost ready to be harvested with soil overnight.
The property spread over 11 acre was owned by several farmers of Tentlapali. While some shareholders had sold their portions, others refused. However, the protesters recently alleged the entire plot was sold without their signatures or consent.
Subsequently, on Monday night the land mafia which allegedly fraudulently acquired the land filled a large portion of it with soil. The overnight destruction and loss of crops left the farmers devastated. Irked over the incident, a few farmers arrived at the protest site with bottles of pesticide threatening to commit suicide and blocked the Bargarh-Bhatli road for over five hours
Bargarh sub-collector Prasanna Kumar Pande said, “The agitators were assured that swift action will be taken and the person involved arrested. The land dispute is under review now”. He said the farmers had already filed an injunction before the district judge on the basis of which the tehsildar has lodged an FIR. Crops over around an half acre of land were filled with soil. “We will assess the loss and make arrangements for compensating the farmers”, Pande said.