Son of former Union minister booked for selling Rs 25 crore government land

AGRA: The son of a former deputy minister for railways and his aide have been booked for allegedly selling 20 hectares of land belonging to a government-run trust to private parties over the past two decades on the basis of fake documents. The current market value of the land in Etah district is estimated at Rs 25 crore.
The land in question was part of the 60 hectare that had been transferred by Rohanlal Chaturvedi (who was the deputy minister for railways from November 15, 1967, to March 17, 1971) to the trust before the ZamindarI Abolishment and Land Reforms Act 1950 was implemented.Rohanlal Chaturvedi had also served as Union deputy minister of parliamentary affairs for eight months from March 18, 1967, to November 14, 1967.
The accused men are the former Union minister's son, Manoj Chaturvedi, and his associate Narendra Dev Upadhayaya.
The matter came to light after the district administration conducted a probe earlier this year. Based on a complaint filed by a revenue clerk on Wednesday, an FIR was registered the same day against Manoj and Narendra Dev under various sections of the IPC, including 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and sections of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984. According to the FIR, the land under the Sarvodaya Ashram Trust was used for farming illegally by the accused. Besides, the ownership of the land was changed through fraudulent means. There were no proper records of the trust's operations, said police sources. SHO Kotwali Nagar police station Sudhir Raghav, said, "The matter is being probed. The land documents enclosed with the complaint are being examined." Manoj refuted the allegations, saying, "The FIR has been registered with mal-intentions. We will approach the high court."