E SDM, who was dismissed, among 6 arrested in fake Ganga land lease case in UP
A major land scam has been uncovered in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal involving nearly 1,000 bighas of government land along the banks of the Ganga. As
A major land scam has been uncovered in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal involving nearly 1,000 bighas of government land along the banks of the Ganga. As many as six people have been arrested in the case, including a retired sub-divisional magistrate, for their role in the alleged fraudulent allotment of government land through fake leases, officials said on Friday. The arrests came a day after an FIR was registered against 19 people, including a retired SDM, a former district government counsel (revenue), a former village head and several revenue officials. Read Full Story Those arrested are retired and dismissed SDM Omveer Singh, retired revenue inspector Rajveer Singh, former district government counsel (revenue) Jai Bhardwaj, retired assistant consolidation officer Mahendra Singh, former Asadpur village head Vikrant Kumar and consolidation lekhpal Bhimrao.
All six were produced before a court and sent to jail. According to the FIR, around 71.55 hectares, or about 1,000 bighas, of government land classified as Jhau category in villages, including Asadpur and Sukhela, along the Ganga river was allegedly allotted illegally through forged entries in land records after 2007. The case was registered at Gunnaur police station on the complaint of Lekhpal Swati Sharma. The complaint said a criminal case had also been registered in 2018 against the officials and 58 allegedly ineligible beneficiaries over the same land allotment, and that the forged revenue entries were later cancelled.
Despite this, 162 leases were allegedly approved in 2019 in favour of beneficiaries. Later inquiries reportedly found major discrepancies in the land area and the number of beneficiaries. Police said a district-level inquiry committee submitted its report to the Sambhal District Magistrate on June 4, recommending legal and departmental action against the officials and others allegedly involved. Based on the report, the FIR was registered on July 2. The arrests also come amid a wider crackdown on alleged land fraud in the state. On Wednesday, police arrested an assistant municipal commissioner posted in Shahjahanpur in a separate case linked to the alleged illegal transfer of government land worth over Rs 100 crore, with investigators saying the official was among 31 named accused and efforts were on to trace the others.
The case in Sambhal centres on alleged forged land records, cancelled entries, and leases that were later found to have major discrepancies, with police now acting against officials and others named in the inquiry. Ends (With inputs from PTI)
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