Land grabbing by minister true: SC panel

KORAPUT: State coordinator of National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) Haladhar Sethi on Tuesday said the land grabbing allegation against school and mass education minister Rabi Narayan Nanda was true.
A dalit family had moved the commission, alleging that the minister had grabbed over 20 acre of their land at Patraput village in Korput's Jeypore block."Around 23 acre, registered in the name of the predecessors of the dality family, is in the possession of Nanda and his wife. The minister has given the land to a few persons on sharecropping. The sharecroppers are threatening the dalit family," Sethi said after the preliminary inquiry.
"I will submit my findings to NCSC chairman. I have also urged the district administration to provide adequate protection to the family," he added.
The complainant, Hari Pangi, also lodged a complaint at Jeypore Sadar police station against the sharecroppers in presence of Sethi.
"We have registered a case and investigating the allegation," said IIC of Jeypore Sadar police station R K Dehury.