4 officials held for illegally allocating 326 bighas in Sambhal

The probe revealed that 67 individuals were involved in orchestrating the scam, including 58 fake beneficiaries and nine Chakbandi department employees. Of these officials, four have since died, four have been arrested, and one Surendra Kumar Yadav, is on the run.

A land fraud in the Chakbandi (consolidation) department has come to light in Sambhal district, leading to the arrest of four government officials. The fraud involved the illegal allotment of 326 bighas of government land to 58 fake beneficiaries in Sukhailla village under Junawai police station limits, police said on Thursday.

Superintendent of police (SP) Krishan Kumar Vishnoi said the scam was exposed following a complaint filed by Chakbandi Lekhpal Kuldeep Singh. (Sourced)

Superintendent of police (SP) Krishan Kumar Vishnoi said the scam was exposed following a complaint filed by Chakbandi Lekhpal Kuldeep Singh, which led to the registration of an FIR (first information report) at Gunnour police station.

The probe revealed that 67 individuals were involved in orchestrating the scam, including 58 fake beneficiaries and nine Chakbandi department employees. Of these officials, four have since died, four have been arrested, and one Surendra Kumar Yadav, is on the run. The arrested officials have been identified as Kalicharan, 55, Ram Avtar, 54, Ramniwas, 55, and Mordhwaj, 58.

Initial investigations began in 2018 by the Crime Research Centre in Lucknow and later handed over to Gunnaur police. Officials reportedly created false entries in government records to allot land under fake names, with the suspected intention of grabbing the land later. Records show fraudulent allocations, but original documents linked to the land deals have gone missing.

Police in Behjoi are now probing the disappearance of these crucial documents. Meanwhile, raids are being conducted to locate the absconding accused and verify whether more officials or outsiders played a role in the fraud, SP Vishnoi added.

The four arrested officials, including two Lekhpals, face charges under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery), and 120-B (criminal conspiracy), the SP confirmed.