Jajpur: An eviction drive was carried out at the farmhouse of former Dharmasala MLA and BJD leader Pranab Kumar Balabantray in Odisha’s Jajpur district over alleged encroachment of government land, officials said Wednesday.
A team from Dharmasala tehsil administration, led by additional tahsildar Gagan Behari Das, deployed a bulldozer to demolish structures allegedly constructed on government land at Panturi village Tuesday, they said.
Boundary walls and some buildings had been constructed on 12.88 acres of the farmhouse allegedly belonging to Balabantray. Of this, around 1.10 acres were identified as encroached government land, officials claimed.
“The drive was carried out to clear the unauthorised occupation in accordance with due legal procedure,” Das said.
He said the drive was carried out after proper verification of land records.
Adequate police personnel were deployed at the site to maintain law and order and prevent any untoward incident during the eviction process, officials said.
Earlier, the Dharmasala tehsil administration had issued a notice asking Balabantray to produce documents regarding the alleged illegal occupation of government land.
A 30-day notice was also served in this connection, they said.
In response, Balabantray moved the Orissa High Court, seeking identification and demarcation of his claimed 12.88 acres of land of the farmhouse. He also requested that no eviction be carried out until the demarcation process was completed.
Following the HC direction, the tehsil authorities began measurement of the land on February 17. Based on the finding, the eviction drive was carried out Tuesday, sources said.
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