J&K govt gives clean chit to Oppn leaders in land-grab case

Jammu and Kashmir government today gave a clean chit to leaders of opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), including Deputy Speaker Sartaj Madni, facing allegations of land grabbing in Anantnag district.
"The particular persons against whom allegations have been leveled have not encroached on any state land," the report by the Revenue Department, submitted in the Legislative Council by Chief Secretary Iqbal Khandey said.
Khandey had been directed by the Chairman, Legislative Council, Amrit Malhotra, to ascertain the facts and submit a report after allegations of land grabbing against PDP leaders were leveled by ruling National Conference (NC) MLC Bashir Veeri.

Veeri alleged that a PDP leader had grabbed over 200 hectares of state land in Marhama area of south Kashmir's Anantnag district.
He also charged that names of Deputy Speaker Sartaj Madni and PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had also figured in the case.
The report said the land in question measuring 89 kanals and 18 marlas was a proprietary land and had been transferred to some persons by the locals of Marhama in 2010.

No land by the persons, against whom allegations have been leveled, has been encroached as no such land is available within a radius of around 150 metres from immediate periphery of the said land, it said.

The report said the allegations of encroaching 4,000 kanals of land does not seem to be based on facts but rumors.
"The details provided by the field staff clearly reveal that more than 400 families of the said village and the adjoining village are in possession of the state land," it said.