Garhwal commissioner orders FIRs in 24 land fraud cases

Dehradun: Garhwal commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey has directed that FIRs be registered in 24 land fraud cases after a review of 125 complaints. The directions were issued at a high-level meeting of the Land Fraud Coordination Committee on Saturday. The panel reviewed compliance on earlier instructions and examined 125 cases, including 20 pending and 105 new complaints. Of these, 45 were resolved.

Among the new cases, 74 are from Dehradun district, 15 from Haridwar, 13 from Pauri, two from Tehri and one from Chamoli.
Pandey directed officials to complete joint inspections, wherever required, within a week and submit reports promptly.
Of the 24 cases flagged for FIRs, 13 involve illegal fencing, encroachment and misappropriation of land, while the remaining relate to land fraud and other violations.

“The investigation brought to light several instances of fraud, including sale of non-existent land, manipulation of khasra numbers to assign a different plot, and sale of a 2-bigha plot as 4 bigha,” Pandey said.

He expressed concern over delays in cases involving large tracts of land and directed officials to ensure progress within 15 days.
Officials said land fraud cases in Dehradun and other Garhwal districts have been rising in recent years.