Maharashtra: Tribal woman alleges land grab worth crores

A tribal woman from Uran in Raigad has lodged a police complaint against local revenue officials and several others for allegedly seizing her ancestral protected agricultural land measuring approximately 5 acre in Dighode village Uran The woman claims that the accused forged revenue documents and sold the property without her consent which is estimated to be worth crores of rupeesAccording to local activists the disputed property is located near the Mumbai MTHL Nava ShevaSewree project It is alleged that the land was converted from agricultural to nonagricultural land with the involvement of corrupt revenue officials of Uran The complainant Mukta Katkari 60 a resident of Adivasi Wadi Punade Uran states that her grandfather and father used to cultivate the said land and after their passing the Katkari legal heirs continued farming However they were forcibly asked to vacate the plot and currently a container yard operates on the disputed landThe tribal woman Mukta Katkari along with her husband AnanthaAfter senior police officials intervened the Uran police registered a case against nine accused individuals including a former lady revenue official Some of the accused have sought anticipatory bail before the Panvel Sessions court with the matter scheduled for June 6RTI filed by the social workerThe land fraud was exposed after an RTI was filed by Professor Rajendra Madhavi a social worker and Vice President of Uran Samajik Sanstha He has been working closely on tribal rights in the area and discovered numerous cases of tribals being deprived of basic government facilities After collecting relevant documents related to Mukta Katkarirsquos property it was revealed that the land records were forged and the land was converted without her consentldquoThe victim Mukta is the granddaughter of the actual owner of the property her late grandfather Gopal Katkari who passed away in 1980 All three of his sons have also passed away over time but the original legal heirs of the Katkari family are still alive Mukta is fighting the cause on behalf of the familyrdquo stated MadhaviAdvocate speaksAdvocate Siddharth Ingle accuses the police of initially delaying the complaint and alleges their complicity with the accused After intervention and a meeting with senior officials the FIR was registered No arrests have been made as the accused have filed an anticipatory bail pleaAccording to Advocate Ingle the case involves the illegal grabbing of poor and illiterate tribal landownersrsquo ancestral agricultural land The landsharks colluded with corrupt revenue officials to manipulate and forge land records resulting in the unauthorised conversion of protected tribal land into nonagricultural land The estimated value of the land is in crores of rupees The land revenue code prohibits the transfer or sale of tribal land to nontribals without permission from the Collector who is responsible for protecting such landsIngle further added ldquoThe conversion of tribal agricultural land into nonagricultural land as occurred in this case is a violation of the land revenue code We have brought this matter to the notice of the collector who has assured us that an inquiry will be conductedrdquoThe police complaintIn Muktarsquos police complaint she states that she belongs to the Katkari tribe and that her late grandfather Gopal Katkari owned the land in question After his demise the names of the legal heirs should have been recorded in the revenue records However the mutation entry in the land record allegedly shows four namesmdashTulsiram Babu Gharat Lahu Babu Gharat Ankush Babu Gharat and Bharat Babu Gharatmdashas the legal heirs of Gopal Katkari The former land record official is accused of manipulating the surname on the land records changing it from lsquoKatkarirsquo to lsquoKaskarirsquoOn January 3 1996 the Gharat brothers allegedly sold the said property to a person named Kailash Surve Subsequently Surve took possession of the land and constructed a compound wall around it With the assistance of a former Tahsildar from Uran the land was converted from agricultural to nonagricultural without proper verification of the documents The mutation entry in the revenue records was made on February 1 2019 Surve currently operates a private container yard on the disputed land Although the Uran police have filed a case against nine individuals including the lady revenue official no arrests have been made so far Attempts made to contact Surve or Gharatrsquos did not yield any resultRevenue ministerrsquos decision is dueComplainant filed application exposing forged land records New revenue officials ordered to return the land Surve challenged this order before Revenue Minister of Maharashtra Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil Minister is yet to make any decisionPolice speakDhanaji Kshirsagar Divisional Assistant Commissioner of Police Port confirmed that the case is under investigation and he is personally investigating the case He acknowledged that it is an old case and requested the relevant records When asked about any arrests made in the case ACP responded negatively5Area of land in acres allegedly grabbed