Bhubaneswar: A day after Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) filed a police complaint over alleged encroachment and attempts to sell land belonging to Lord Jagannath in Puri, law minister Prithiviraj Harichandan on Sunday said strong action would be taken against those engaged in such activities.
“Illegal selling of the Lord’s land will not be tolerated. Stringent action will be taken against all those involved in such attempts to sell the land, including the sub-registrar who transferred the land,” said Harichandan.
SJTA filed a complaint with Baseli Sahi police station on Saturday alleging encroachment and attempts to sell 109 plots spread over 64.88 acres of land belonging to Lord Jagannath in Matitota mouza, Puri.
Puri collector Siddharth Shankar Swain said the administration has started an enquiry into the allegations of illegal sale of Lord Jagannath’s land. “A preliminary probe found that some notorious people have sold the land after getting an affidavit from notary illegally. More investigation is going on and the tehsildar has been alerted. Those found guilty will be identified soon,” he said.
Harichandan further said the govt is planning to resolve encroachment issues under the uniform policy introduced in 2003 for sale and registration of land. “Encroachment and attempts of illegal sale of the Lord’s land is nothing new. Several plots were illegally grabbed not only in Puri but also in other parts of the state and outside. After the formation of the new managing committee, settlement of all the lands belonging to Lord Jagannath will be done as per the 2003 uniform policy. As per the policy, encroached land will be sold at benchmark or market rate, and a corpus fund will be created. The process of settlement of the Lord’s land will begin soon,” the minister said.
BJD alleged the govt is only doing politics in the name of Lord Jagannath. “It is disappointing that the govt cannot restructure the temple managing committee, and many decisions are pending, including the settlement of Lord Jagannath’s land. Why is the uniform policy not being implemented, and why are land records not being given to people through land settlement? BJP govt is only doing politics in the name of Lord Jagannath and is engaged in changing the colours and names of the policies of the previous BJD govt,” said Subhasish Khuntia, BJD’s Rajya Sabha MP who is from Puri.