The arrested former SDM was identified as Ramesh Kumar who had taken voluntary retirement in July 2018, a month after inquiry was initiated into the case, a senior ACB officer said. The other two arrested officials are Surender Kumar and Manjeet Singh, the officer said.
NEW DELHI:The anti-corruption branch (ACB) of the Delhi government on Wednesday arrested a retired Rajouri Garden sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) and two former revenue officials in a land grab case. They allegedly fraudulently transferred government land in west Delhi’s Tatarpur village measuring around 35,000 sq yards and worth around Rs 240 crore to private parties.
The land belonged to Delhi transport corporation (DTC) and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), said officials.
The arrested former SDM was identified as Ramesh Kumar who had taken voluntary retirement in July 2018, a month after inquiry was initiated into the case, a senior ACB officer said. The other two arrested officials are Surender Kumar and Manjeet Singh, the officer said.
A senior ACB officer, who did not wish to be identified, a case was registered in July this year on the complaint of a Rajouri Garden tehsildar alleging that the land had been mutated fraudulently in favour of private parties and thereafter sale deed of DTC plot measuring 963.03 sq metres in Tatarpur village was fraudulently made in the name of private persons.
“On Wednesday, the three persons were arrested after collecting sufficient evidence against them. We found that the government had acquired the land in the 1970s for around Rs 2 lakh at the time. But last year, the accused officials colluded with the daughters of the original owner, who is now dead, and mutated the land to their name. The land is valued at around Rs 240 crore now,” the official said.
Further investigation of this case is in progress to unearth the larger conspiracy with regards to misappropriation of the government land, the officer added.
Delhi’s revenue and transport minister Kailash Gahlot said the action taken against errant officers in this case will act as a deterrent in future. “I have only heard of this case as files of vigilance and ACB do not reach my office. But, I have issued directions to all revenue offices in every district of Delhi to ensure such incidents do not happen again. Strictest action will be taken against errant officers,” he said.
A DMRC official, who did not wish to be named, said this issue is about the land where now a shopping mall has come up. “DMRC had lodged a complaint in this regard with the district magistrate 2-3 years back,” he said.
Prasanta Patnaik