Ex-Army man battles to save land, honour

Gurgaon: After spending nearly 40 years in the Army, Lt Gen Ramesh Rana (retd), former director general of Assam Rifles, returned to his native Bajghera village in Gurgaon, where he intended to spend the rest of his life. However, it turned out to be an unpleasant experience as his land in the village had been acquired for settling the oustees of Dwarka Expressway.What pained him more was the acquisition of a 'samadhi sthal' constructed by his family in memory of Major Vinod Rana, younger brother of Lt Gen Ramesh Rana, who made the supreme sacrifice fighting militants in 2002.
Sources said, in December 2009, Huda issued notices for acquisition of 70 acres of land, including 18 acres of Rana family, to develop Sector 110A for resettlement of oustees of Dwarka Expressway. Over time, almost everyone's land except the one belonging to Rana family were exempted from acquisition.
Lt Gen Ramesh Rana said his brother died fighting militants in Jammu and Kashmir and was awarded Sena Medal (gallantry) posthumously. The family had made a museum and a memorial to honour him on land owned by them. "We had organised functions year after year to honour him on his death anniversary. Now this is likely to be throttled by the government as we are being evicted to carve out a new sector," said Rana.