Another land scam rocks UP Govt

LUCKNOW: The state government is rocked by yet another land scam involving over 14 lakh sq-mt of land worth over Rs 1,500 crore, mainly in and around Noida and Greater Noida.
The scam attains bizarre proportions as "land mafia" Motilal Goel fraudulently established himself and his family members as residents of many towns at the same time.
And despite an administrative inquiry under member administrative (Board of revenue) T George Joseph, already initiated in what seems to be the biggest land scam ever reported, the state government''s silence in ordering a CBI probe might lead to ultimately hushing up the case, feel officials.
Involvement of top Noida officials besides other influential bureaucrats in key government positions could ultimately come in the way, say sources. Exactly what happened with the August 2001 report seeking a CBI enquiry in the then relatively small irregularity related to UP Housing and Development Board (UPHDB) land. Despite the fact that the then chief minister Mayawati had approved a CBI inquiry, the file was somehow suppressed, sources said.
Meanwhile, Goel continued grabbing land. The modus operandi was simple. Talking to TOI, Joseph said that the court had observed that this was a major scam and asked for a CBI inquiry.
"I have been directed to look into who all are responsible for the scam," he said, adding: "What Goel probably did was that he replaced old records in the records room, making forged entries. Later, he filed cases in different courts claiming rights to government land." So far I have studied 26 cases and also sought reasons why police didn''t arrest these persons, he said.
Even as Motilal''s right hand man Mahabir was arrested on Monday morning by police after this and on the apparently stern view taken by chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav on the issue, sources said that the fact that Mahabir was arrested from his permanent address was a pointer to police conniving with the land mafia.
Also, certain officials are believed to have passed judicial orders, sources said adding that it would have to be ascertained whether any action could be taken against the officials for this. Then there were certain officials who had actually bought land from Goel.
Joseph, however, chose not to reveal the names of top officials involved in the scam.Goel grabbed government land in Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Noida, Greater Noida and Bulandshahr. This he did with the connivance of senior PCS and IAS officers, lekhpals, revenue inspectors, nayab tehsildars, tehsildars and officials of different courts.
He first entered the name of his relatives, including grandfather Raghunath Sahai, father Lajjaram, grandmother Kasturi Devi by giving forged references of false cases.
Thereafter, he filed cases in different courts alleging that instead of the names of his family members, the revenue officials had by mistake entered the land as government land in the revenue records, ultimately getting the rights to the government land.