E-Paper
Land scam: Top official in the dock
Chief Revenue officer (CRO) of Varanasi Jag Prasad has landed in trouble for his alleged role in the allotment of thousands of bighas of land to the then MLA of Muzaffarnagar Thakur Jagat Singh and his close associates on fake papers some years ago, when he was posted in Muzaffarnagar as the sub-divisional magistrate.
Chief Revenue officer (CRO) of Varanasi Jag Prasad has landed in trouble for his alleged role in the allotment of thousands of bighas of land to the then MLA of Muzaffarnagar Thakur Jagat Singh and his close associates on fake papers some years ago, when he was posted in Muzaffarnagar as the sub-divisional magistrate.
According to reports, a case has been registered in Jhejana police station in Muzaffarnagar against five persons, including present CRO Varanasi Jag Prasad, based on the reports of the CB-CID and Divisional Commissioner of Meerut.
Sources said that in its report, the CB-CID blamed Jag Prasad, then SDM, for misusing his position and transferring the land of the Gram Samaj to the former MLA and his family members on the basis of fake documents.
As per information, the then MLA Thakur Jagat Singh, in connivance with the officials concerned, got 3,000 bighas of land of the Gram Samaj in Chausana village transferred to his and his family members’ names whereas the land was to be allotted to the poor and the downtrodden.
Agitated over the illegal transfer of land, Vijay Pal Singh, a teacher of the same village, staged a dharna in January, 1996 which continued for some years but the matter was hushed up due to the influence of the then MLA.
However, when Divisional Commissioner of Meerut HL Birdi visited Chausana village a few years ago and investigated the allegations of Vijay Pal Singh, most of the charges were found true.
Later, on the report of the CB-CID, the police personnel of Jheejhana police station in Muzaffarnagar registered a named FIR against five persons, including Jag Prasad, on January 21, 2006, sources said.
“Nobody has approached me in connection with the inquiry about the land allotment case in Muzaffarnagar”, Jag Prasad, Chief Revenue Officer, Varanasi told Hindustan Times, adding, “Muzaffarnagar was the initial positing of my career”.
“I do not know about any land allotment scam”, he said, adding,” there is no question of alloting 3,000 bigha of land in anyone’s favour in my tenure there.
Anyone who has managed the allotment might have got it through other means”.
