Temple land usurped by land mafia, says SDM's report

PATIALA: The land of a temple managed by Gujratis in new Dhillon colony has been illegally usurped by "unknown" individuals.
An inquiry conducted by the Sub-Divisional-Magistrate (SDM) Pooja Syal has indicted the encroachers who constructed commercial showrooms on the land. It was earlier claimed that on this temple land a huge langar hall would be constructed.The land was given to the Trust by the government.
The SDM in her report said that this chunk of land as per revenue records belonged to a charitable Trust and the present occupants had illegally constructed showrooms. She had given several opportunities to the encroachers to show any document which could justify their possession, but no one turned up.
The Deputy Commissioner (DC) Ramvir Singh when contacted said that he had sent the report to Municipal Commissioner (MC) for taking action as per law.
The MC has sent the inquiry report to legal experts for their opinion which was yet to be received.
It was alleged that some politicians were behind the construction of the showrooms. The MC had earlier issued notices to them asking for an affidavit certifying that constructed showrooms would be used for 'langar' and would not be put to commercial use. But no response was received.
The alleged land mafia, during the initial stages of construction, covered the land with a huge tarpaulin and stealthily started construction. But after the completion of construction no one came forward to own up these show rooms. As per law, the illegally constructed shops will have to be demolished or an undertaking will be necessary that the charitable Trust owns the showrooms and a 'langar' will be run there.