Case against 359 for embezzlement of 59 bigha land in Damak

In two separate cases filed by the Abuse of Authority Investigation Commission on Sunday in the special court, the main accused are Revatraj Puri alias Gagan, a local leader of the Maoists, the then three chief surveyors of Jhapa Chandragarhi Shashikant Jha, Bishnukumar Neupane and Samsaranath Pandey and the land mafia including Bachuram Karki, the then chief land officer of Damak, Jhapa. Leaders, employees and middlemen have been filed as opponents.

138 people, including Puri, who is also the treasurer of the Maoist Koshi Province Committee, were charged with embezzlement of 58 bigha, 14 katta, and 17 dhur of riverside land spread in the then 13 and 14 wards (now ward no. 8) of Damak municipality, and 221 For the purpose of confiscating the land against, the defendant has been made. In the case of land embezzlement, the Authority has filed chargesheets as defendants in two separate cases. The authority had started a detailed investigation in connection with the embezzlement of the land, known as the "Damakko Baluwatar" case, since 2078. Completing the nearly 2-year-long investigation, the authority filed a case against leaders, employees and middlemen on Sunday.

Narahari Ghimire, the spokesperson of the authority, said that in both cases, the defendants have been charged Rs. Spokesperson Ghimire said that it is probably the first time that a corruption case has been filed with such a large amount of land confiscation and individual defendants at the same time for the loss of government-public property. Only a few weeks ago, the authority had filed a case against 249 people in Tikapur of Kailali for the embezzlement of about 7 bigha of government land. Before that, in January 2076, the authority had filed a case against 175 people in the embezzlement of more than 136 ropani of Lalita residence in Baluwatar.

In the case filed on Sunday, the river bank and the public land discussed by it has been revealed by the surveyor and Malpot employees and land mafia during the period of 2063 to 2073.

It has been revealed from the investigation that the 58 bigha 14 Kattha 17 Dhur on both the government and public riverbanks in the 2021 Napi were registered in the names of individuals by an organized gang in collusion with the Napi and Malpot employees in Jhapa and Damak. In the measurements of 2021 and 2034, this record seems to be maintained until 2063, as the land of the then government and public nature of Shri 5 is maintained. An officer involved in the investigation said that after the political change of 2062/63, land killing started and during 10 years government-public land was transferred to individuals. It seems that the game of embezzlement of government land has started since 2063. The said government land was retained in the name of a neighbor (who is living in it) while on the other hand, it seems that the remaining land has been usurped by a person,' said the officer involved in the investigation to Kantipur, 'because of that, it is clear that the land surveyors and Malpot employees have taken the land as a bribe.'

From May/June of 2063, the game of land eating/grabbing started and after 2066, the land was re-measured. When re-surveyed, the government-public land was taken in the name of the individual. In which there seems to be a plan and collusion with Maoist leader Puri, another accused Omprakash Paudel and Chief Napi officer Shashikant Jha. The land between 6(c) and Damak 5(b) was transferred to the name of the individual and then it was sold. It is mentioned in the charge sheet filed by the authority that Maoist leader Puri was involved in the land embezzlement as the main planner. Puri, who was accused as a plotter of land grabbing, was found guilty by a special court in the asset laundering case on February 6. In this case, the special counsel fined Puri 43.34 million rupees.

Damak's land embezzlement case has also been filed by making him the main accused. In this case, Bhadrapur chief surveyor Shashikant Jha, land mafia Kitan Puri and Omprakash Poudel have been named as the main accused of land embezzlement.

'In the beginning of the year 2021, it was seen from the government-public field book and the land owner registration section that the said lots were inserted into the land of various people during the re-survey from the land survey office, Chandragarhi, Jhapa and Damak, and during the survey office, it appears that the land was registered through the recent process,' said the indictment of the authority. According to the Land (Survey Survey) Act, 2019 and the Land (Survey Survey) Regulations, 2058, even if any land which has been surveyed for government or public land in the past has been used as an awad, a commode or a house, when the survey is conducted, such land is still according to the survey. It seems that it should be registered as government or public land,' the Authority has mentioned that in the past, government-public land was illegally entered in the name of a particular individual and recently transferred to the name of an individual.

172 people, including Maoist leader Puri, have been made defendants in the embezzlement of 29 bighas, 17 kathas, and 4 dhurs of public land, and 346 million 6654 thousand 849 rupees have been imposed against 64 people, and a fine and imprisonment have been demanded accordingly. 118 people who have the land in their name have been made defendants for the purpose of confiscating the land. Shashikant Jha, Bishnu Kumar Neupane and Samsaranath Pandey, then three chief surveyors of Chandragarhi, have been made defendants in this. According to Ghimire, the spokesperson of the authority, 10 people including the then chief survey officer of the Survey Office Chandragadi, 11 people including the then head of the Land Survey Office Damak and 28 employees including 7 of the Survey Office Damak and 36 people who registered encroachment of government-public land on their land have been charged, imprisoned and punished. .

It is stated in the indictment of the authority that, 'any land which has been surveyed as government-public land in the past, even if someone has used it as a house, commode or house, but when it is found that such land should be registered as government or public land according to the previous survey, it is now government/ According to the indictment, Shashikant Jha, chief surveyor of the then surveyor's office, Chandragarh, and Pandey, another chief surveyor, played the main role as employees as the main planners of taking the government land in the name of individuals. Jha and Pandey have passed away. Jha's wife Anardevi Jha and Pandey took the land in the name of wife Savitri Pandey as a bribe for registering the public land in the name of the individual. The authority has demanded Rs 302 million 271 thousand 926 against Jha and Rs 67777 against Pandey. The public land was maintained by Maoist leader Puri in the names of various people including himself and 10 members of his family. A case has been filed against Puri alone by maintaining a debt of Rs. 6 crore 270 thousand 499.

Similarly, a case has been filed against 187 people for the crime of taking 28 bighas, 17 katha, and 13 dhur of land spread over 11 different lots in Ratuwa and Dipini. Out of them, 113 people have been charged with land confiscation purposes and the remaining 74 have been charged with misdemeanors, imprisonment and fines.

In this case, 41 crore 62 lakh 19 thousand 8 hundred 1 rupees has been fixed. Bigo Kaam is according to the amount extracted from the government assessment of the land. In this, 9 people including Shashikant Jha and Ramdev Mandal, the two chief survey officers of Chandragadi survey office and 65 people including Maoist leader Puri, who illegally registered government/public land in their names, have been demanded to be punished with imprisonment and fine. According to the authority, the rest have been made defendants for land confiscation purposes.

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