Suspended ex-Surat collector involved in Rs 2,000 cr land scam exposed by Cong, claims party leader
Surat (PTI): The opposition Congress in Gujarat on Tuesday alleged that IAS officer and former collector of Surat Aayush Oak was involved in a Rs 2,000 crore land scam, exposed by the party in May.
The allegation came a day after the state government on Monday suspended Oak on charges of committing "negligence" while dealing with a revenue land matter between 2021 and 2024 as the then-collector of Surat district.
Addressing the media, Congress leader Darshan Nayak claimed that he had sent a letter to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on May 25, seeking an inquiry against Oak for allegedly entering the name of a tenant farmer into the revenue records of a government land worth Rs 2,000 crore in the Dumas area of Surat city.
Oak, serving as Valsad district collector at the time of suspension, allegedly caused a huge financial loss to the government exchequer while dealing with the land matter, the state's General Administration Department (GAD) said in an order on Monday without elaborating.
The IAS officer was transferred to Valsad from Surat on January 31, 2024.
Nayak shared a copy of the letter he emailed to the chief minister in May and demanded an inquiry into the decisions taken by Oak as Surat collector.
"This piece of land measuring 2.17 lakh square meters in the Dumas area has been classified as government land in the revenue records since 1948, and it is now worth nearly Rs 2,000 crore. As per the laws governing tenancy and agricultural lands, the names of tenant farmers cannot be entered in the records of government land," said Nayak, who serves as a general secretary in the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee.
When nearly 22 persons had filed applications before the district collector demanding that their names be included in the records of that land, the then collector had taken this matter suo motu in 2015 and rejected all these applications in the public interest, he said.
Even after that, no collector had challenged that order and the land remained a government-owned land in revenue records, Nayak said.
"However, as part of a conspiracy in connivance with land mafias and political leaders, Oak, a day before his transfer, gave his approval to enter the name of one Krushnamukhlal Shroff as a tenant farmer, which would establish that person's right on that precious land. This was perhaps a first incident wherein a tenant was added in the revenue records of government land," he claimed.
The Congress leader said the state government overturned Oak's order in May and initiated an inquiry after the matter was brought to light by the opposition party.
Nayak said he along with sitting Congress MLA, Dr Tushar Chaudhary, had addressed a press conference on May 20, and demanded Oak's suspension and registration of an FIR against him and others involved in the alleged scam of capturing the government land.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
