Deoghar land scam: 2 detained in CBI raids

RANCHI: The CBI on Friday conducted simultaneous raids on 52 places in Jharkhand and Bihar in connection with multi-crore Deoghar land scam and detained two officers for interrogation besides confiscating documents. The raids were conducted in Patna, Dhanbad, Deoghar, Latehar and Sahebgunj in the offices and premises of officials who had served at the Deoghar circle and registry office.
Former sub-registrar of Deoghar Roop lal Manjhi was grilled by the CBI for more than four hours before being taken away. The investigating team also seized documents related to land scam from his Dhanbad residence. Another official, Mithilesh Rai, was also questioned by the agency sleuths during the raid.
The case was related to illegal sale of over 800 acres of government land by officials of Deoghar district administration over a period of time. Tribal and government land were sold and registered in the name of non-tribals despite the fact that the Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act applicable in the region prohibits such transfer.
The CBI was handed over the investigation through a notification of the state home department in January after the state vigilance bureau unearthed involvement of highly placed and well-connected people in the case. The scam was highlighted when then deputy commissioner of Deoghar Mast Ram Meena observed discrepancies in land registration and recommended inquiry by the vigilance department. Soon after the matter was handed over to the vigilance, fire broke out in the registry office that gutted important documents related to the alleged illegal land transfer.
In course of investigation, the vigilance bureau had lodged two cases involving 64 people, most of whom are government officials working at the Deoghar circle and registry office.
While being taken away by the CBI sleuths for further investigation, Manjhi said he was being falsely implicated as he worked on the recommendation of circle officer, BDO, SDO and the DC. "I received the land papers for registry only after they were thoroughly verified by the deputy commissioner," he said.