Retired Army officer accuses Congress MLA of land grab

A retired Army officer today accused a ruling party MLA of forcibly occupying his agriculture land for mining purpose in Sikar district.
Umrao Singh Gujjar, who had sought voluntary retirement from the services in order "to deal with the issue", said that he had purchased the land, which falls in captioned mining lease area, from a man in April 2011.
Initially, the lease was allotted in the name of one Gopilal in 1983 for 20 years but the lease agreement expired and was not renewed, he said.
"I purchased the land in April 2011 and started sowing in the area. In the meantime, MLA Ramesh Khandelwal managed to get the land agreement renewed and the lease was transferred in the name of his wife. It was done in connivance with mining department," Gujjar alleged.

"After the lease was transferred, Khandelwal's men forcibly started mining in 2011. I filed complaints with state government but no suitable action was taken. Due to all this trouble, I had to take volunteer retirement from Army to handle the matter," he said.
Gujjar demanded that the lease allotment process in the case be probed and mining should be stopped with immediate effect.
However, Khandelwal rejected the charges saying the allegations are "politically motivated".
"The mine is allotted in my wife's name and I have nothing to do with the lease," he said.