MAPUSA
Chief Minister, Pramod Sawant on Tuesday announced that Justice V K Jadhav (retd) the former judge of Bombay High Court will head the commission of inquiry to probe the ongoing land grabbing cases in the State.
The commissioner will have to submit the report or recommendations of the commission within four months from the date of the first sitting of the inquiry commission.
As per the terms of reference, the commissioner will have to inquire and fix the responsibility in all cases of grabbing of private and or any other land in the State and to find out the involvement of any government officers and/or any other public functionaries and private individuals in such land grabbing.
The commissioner has to also inquire and find out the loopholes, deficiencies, lacuna or negligence in the administrative systems and the legal framework which led to such large scale land grabbing besides recommending the government the steps/measures/actions to change the administrative system/legal framework for the purpose of avoiding cases of land grabbing in future.
The commissioner has also been tasked with the job to recommend the change in law for preventing such land grabbing in future.
“I have been monitoring the investigation on a daily basis from the day the SIT was formed to probe the land grabbing cases. The setting up of the inquiry commission shows the intent of this government which is very serious about land grabbing and therefore needs to finalise the cases as early as possible,” Sawant said.
The government has already set up a seven-member SIT team headed by SP Crime Branch Nidhin Valsan to investigate the land grab cases.
While the SIT has been entrusted to investigate the land grab case, the inquiry commission will be entrusted with the specific task of reverting land to its original owners.
There are around 110 land grabbing cases that are being investigated by the SIT and 15 people have so far been arrested including government servants.
Inspector General of Police, Omvir Singh Bishnoi informed that 93 properties have been identified by the investigation team while over one and half lakh sq mt of land was involved in the land grabbing case.
He said most of the properties were in North Goa in villages of Assagao, Anjuna, Nerul, Calangute and Para and part of it was in South Goa.
“In many cases the accused have been able to carry out mutations based on false and fake documents. Intensive efforts are on to trace the absconding accused whether they are in India or outside. We have formed several teams to nab the acuusd within India,” Bishnoi said.
