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Collector orders probe into ₹200 crore forest land scam in Hadapsar
Rajesh Deshmukh, district collector, has ordered a probe into the ₹200 crore forest land scam in Hadapsar, wherein 18 acres of prime urban forest land was deserved for sale on the open market
PUNE Rajesh Deshmukh, district collector, has ordered a probe into the ₹200 crore forest land scam in Hadapsar, wherein 18 acres of prime urban forest land was deserved for sale on the open market.
As per the directions of the District Collector, an SDO (sub-divisional officer) has been instructed to conduct the inquiry which will be completed in two weeks.
The matter came to light after the forest department objected to the civil transfer of the land and informed the collector about the incident.
Later a complaint was lodged by the revenue department officials against Hadapsar resident Popat Pandurang Shitkal, who has been named in the FIR lodged by the Vishrambaug police station.
Shitkarlhas been accused of furnishing bogus documents to process his deed. According to the forest department, the accused Shitkal had allegedly got his name registered on the 7/12 extract by forging the signature of state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president and former revenue minister President Chandrakant Patil.
Deshmukhsaid, “The state government has sought a detailed probe and submission of a written report regarding the case. The necessary directions have been issued to us and based on the directives, we have initiated action and a probe is being conducted in the case.”
The forest department in its petition stated that the accused had shown an 18-acre plot on survey No. 62 in Hadapsar as his private land which is, in fact, forest land. He unsuccessfully tried to register the said plot in his name. Thereafter he went to High Court wherein the court directed the state government to take an appropriate decision. Meanwhile, his application before the revenue department of the government was rejected by the district collector and the divisional commissioner.
Shitkal then approached revenue minister Patil in 2018 who also directed that his application be rejected. But he allegedly forged Patil’s signature and issued a fraudulent gazette notification of transferring the land parcel in his name.
The officials at the land records department found it to be bonafide and correct, so they initiated the process of registering his name on the 7/12 extract, the FIR stated.
Later, the case was transferred to the forest department where deputy forest officer Rahul Patil ordered a forest committee probe all the papers. The forest department protested that forest land cannot be transferred for civilian use.
Trupti Kolte, tehsildar, Haveli, lodged the FIR.
“Before 1980, the government had transferred some land in the name of those who had been tilling it for years or those who had been evicted for construction of dams and other projects. However, after 1980, the rules have become stringent and transfer of forest land is not easy,” Deshmukh said.
According to the Forest Act, a reserve forest cannot be deserved for civilian/ commercial/ residential use
