Minister admits irregularities in land allotment

Odisha Channel Bureau Bhubaneswar, Aug 27: A senior Minister of the Naveen Patnaik Government has admitted that about 70 acres of land was acquired fraudulently in Ghangapatna area near Bhubaneswar and the same would be taken back by the government after inquiry.The admission by the Minister has made it clear that the State Government had turned a blind eye when influential people fraudulently acquired more than 100 acres of forest land at Ghangapatna, on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.As the Bharatiya Janata Party and civil society organisations highlighted their demand for the CBI probe into the land scam, Revenue Minister Bijayshree Routray on Tuesday told journalists that the government would take strict measures after the inquiry into the alleged irregularities in the land allotment was complete.Preliminary reports suggested that 607 acres and 888 decimal land was in possession of Revenue Department in Ghangapatna area and some of the land had been leased out on different occasions, Routray said.The Minister, however, revealed that about 70 acres land, which are in doubtful position, had been identified.The Ghangapatna land scam has put the Biju Janata Dal Government in a right position after it came to light recently that more than 100 acres of land had been fraudulently acquired by several influential families, including some BJD leaders.While a public interest petition had been filed in Orissa High Court seeking a CBI probe into the land scam, the BJP was trying its best to launch a statewide agitation demanding a CBI probe into the land grabbing.