Manesar land scam: Tehsildar suspended
Gurugram, June 6: Meetu Dhankar, Tehsildar of Manesar Sub-Division, and her two juniors have been suspended for their alleged involvement in selling government plots to private individuals through nearly two dozen different registries, an official said on Wednesday.
Sanjiv Singhla, Gurugram sub-divisional magistrate (north), said Dhankar and registry clerk Ashok Kumar have been suspended while services of computer operator Shishu Pal has been terminated.
Naib Tehsildar Ishwar Singh, revenue officials Satbir Singh and Gulab Singh along with one other official at Manesar have been facing departmental inquiry, said District Revenue officer Hariom Atri.
The land deals were struck from March 14 this year onwards, two days after the Supreme Court reversed the Haryana government's decision to scrap the acquisition and ruled that ownership of the land now rested with the state industry body HSIIDC and urban development authority Huda.
According to an inquiry by Singla, while some of the deals included change of land ownership within a family, others involved third party transactions.
Officials in the know said even though they were still assessing the extent of land sold off, they were sure that so far, at least 25 registrations (at least four acres of land) have been made by different landowners in the two-and-a-half month period.
Singhla said many such deals happened before the March 12 verdict, even as the land was sub-judice. However, the inquiry is restricted to land transactions after the verdict.
During 2004-2007, land with market value above Rs 4 crore per acre, totalling about Rs 1,600 crore, was allegedly purchased by private builders from the land owners in only about Rs 100 crore.
The land parcels fall within three villages, Manesar, Nakhdaula and Naurangpur. When farmers from these villages approached the Supreme Court, it ordered status quo in the favour of farmers on April 24, 2015.
An FIR was then registered against unknown political leaders, builders and their agents under various sections of Indian Penal Code on August 12.
The CBI registered a case on September 15 against Haryana's former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and 32 others and started investigation.
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Adityanath govt has completely failed to maintain Taj Mahal, alleges Akhilesh
Lucknow (PTI): Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday raised questions over maintenance of the Taj Mahal in Agra and attacked the Yogi Adityanath government saying it should be a "living and active" example, not just a "monument".
Yadav, who shared a viral video in which a plant could be seen sprouting from the dome of the Taj Mahal, said the monument might develop cracks due to the roots.
In a post on X, he said, "The BJP government and its dormant departments have completely failed to maintain the Taj Mahal, the wonder that attracts tourists from all over the world."
Yadav went on to say, "There is a possibility of rusting of the metal of the urn on the main dome. Water is dripping from the main dome. There is news of plants growing in the dome. If the roots of trees like these grow, then the Taj Mahal may crack."
He also highlighted problems of monkey menace and water logging in the Taj Mahal complex.
"The Taj Mahal complex has become a sanctuary for monkeys. There is a problem of waterlogging in the Taj Mahal complex. The tourists are worried whether they should admire the Taj Mahal or deal with the problems," Yadav said, adding due to all these reasons, the country's image is tarnished at the global level.
Last week, the main dome of the Taj witnessed water seepage due to incessant rains but officials said there was no damage to the arched roof.
Yadav asked where crores of rupees of funds that come for the maintenance of Taj Mahal are going.
"The government should be a living and active example, not just a monument," he added.
