The activists of Kirti Kisan Union, Naujavan Bhart Sabha and Punjab Students Union on Friday held a protest outside the mini-secretariat at Faridkot demanding justice for a poor farmer whose 1-acre land was allegedly registered in the name of others instead of striking barter (tabadla) as agreed by him.
"I have been living alone and have no immediate family member. Some people of my village contacted me that they would give me 1 acre of land in lieu of mine and an additional sum of Rs 12 lakh for striking barter," alleged victim Jarnail Singh (72), who was present at the protest site.
"I agreed to it and later instead of affecting barter, they got the land registered in the name of Sukhpreet Kaur, wife of Sukhmander Singh, who hailed from my village. I was not given any documents in this regard and came to know about it later that I had sold off my land on papers," alleged Jarnail Singh.
Jarnail had moved a complaint against seven people, including the document writer from Sadak village, in this regard with the Faridkot deputy commissioner on October 31 and police were investigating the case.
"The people who cheated him are powerful and they threw a bait to get 1 acre of land from Jarnail Singh. They first offered him Rs 12 lakh and the equal piece of land for striking the barter. They also paid him Rs 7 lakh in cash out of which Rs 50,000 was taken back from him by a middleman but nothing else was paid to him," claimed Rajinder Singh, a union activist.
Rajinder Singh added that, "They claimed that they have paid him Rs 18 lakh, which is not true. In fact the price of land is above Rs 20 lakh at Deep Singh Wala village, where the land is situated."
The protesters alleged that it was a case of grabbing land of a poor farmer and he should be given justice and guilty be booked but police are going slow in the case at the behest of a local Akali leader.
Rajinder Singh added that, "They claimed that they have paid him Rs 18 lakh, which is not true. In fact the price of land is above Rs 20 lakh at Deep Singh Wala village, where the land is situated."
The protesters alleged that it was a case of grabbing land of a poor farmer and he should be given justice and guilty be booked but police are going slow in the case at the behest of a local Akali leader.
"I have asked the superintendent of police (detective) to submit the inquiry report by Saturday. Justice would be done in the case," said Varinder Pal Singh, Faridkot SSP.