‘80 acres of coffee plantation recovered in Chikkamagaluru’
Officials said the investigation is going on and that the officials would cancel more fake title deeds soon
Bengaluru
The Chikkamagaluru district administration has taken a significant steps to address illegal land allocation issues by nullifying government land allocations to residents of America and Australia, and also reclaimed 80 acres of coffee plantation, officials familiar with the matter said.
An extensive investigation led by 15 tehsildars has unveiled the illegal allocation of over 6,000 acres of government land in Mudigere, Kadur taluks of the district. This effort is part of the government’s strategy to reclaim such lands, officials said.
In the wake of these findings, sub-divisional magistrate HD Rajesh, who is leading further investigations into land-related illegalities, has cancelled the land ownership of seven individuals. They had illicitly registered government land adjacent to their coffee plantations in the name of overseas relatives, specifically in Hadioni village of Mudigere taluk. The revenue authorities’ team on September 29 and 30 recovered the land to the departments.
“The government officials including tehsildars are involved in the land scam,” Chikkamagaluru SDM HD Rajesh told HT. He said during investigation it was found that many fake documents were created between 2019 June and 2021 July. “We have recovered a total 80 acres of coffee plantations worth over ₹20 crore in Hadi Oni village in survey number 21, in Balur Hobali of Mudigere taluk. A Tehsildar, B Ramesh, is on the run after the police registered a case against him in this case.”
{{/usCountry}}“The government officials including tehsildars are involved in the land scam,” Chikkamagaluru SDM HD Rajesh told HT. He said during investigation it was found that many fake documents were created between 2019 June and 2021 July. “We have recovered a total 80 acres of coffee plantations worth over ₹20 crore in Hadi Oni village in survey number 21, in Balur Hobali of Mudigere taluk. A Tehsildar, B Ramesh, is on the run after the police registered a case against him in this case.”
{{/usCountry}}He said the investigation is going on and that the officials would cancel more fake title deeds soon.
{{/usCountry}}He said the investigation is going on and that the officials would cancel more fake title deeds soon.
{{/usCountry}}The cancellation of illegal land accounts, including those held by foreign residents, has resulted in the recovery of 35 acres of revenue land. Furthermore, during the investigation, authorities discovered encroachments on 45 acres of forest land related to the same plantation. In a collaborative effort, officials from the revenue and forest department conducted a joint survey and seized control of these 80 acres of land .
{{/usCountry}}The cancellation of illegal land accounts, including those held by foreign residents, has resulted in the recovery of 35 acres of revenue land. Furthermore, during the investigation, authorities discovered encroachments on 45 acres of forest land related to the same plantation. In a collaborative effort, officials from the revenue and forest department conducted a joint survey and seized control of these 80 acres of land .
{{/usCountry}}Notably, the 80-acre plot includes a coffee plantation, which was taken over without causing harm to the plantation itself. Authorities are considering plans for the rehabilitation of Saragodu and Madhugundi refugees in this area.
There are also allegations of fraudulent activities by certain revenue employees involved in illegal land acquisitions. It has come to light that substantial properties have been acquired under the names of residents.
According to probe conducted across the state about illegal land encroachments , Chikkamagaluru district tops in the list with more than 6000 acres of land encroachment.
Forest department of Chikkamagaluru district arrested suspended Karnataka Administrative Service officer, J Umesh, who earlier worked as tahsildar of Kadur taluk, on September 1 on the charge of granting forest land (Section 4) earmarked for a tiger reserve.
