Srinagar:
In what seems to be a reminder of the Adarsh Housing Society scam in Mumbai, a shocking case of fraudulent sale of Defence land has come to light - this time in the highly-sensitive area of Srinagar. NDTV has exclusively accessed documents that reveal how land at the high-security Srinagar airfield has been on sale for the last four years. What's worse, no one seems to have had a whiff about this surreptitious deal.
The documents show how bit by bit, more than 100 acres of the 2,300-acre Srinagar Air Force Station & International Airport has been sold to private players by land sharks who bribed their way through the Defence Estates Office and the state government's Revenue Department.
These corrupt officials cleared sale agreements in a zone that could easily fall prey to cross-border terror. Ironically, it's an area civilians are not even allowed to enter.
Among one of the buyers of this land is A. R. Hanjura., a lawyer, who acquired 1.5 acres of this land in Naaru Village in 2008. He bought it from a certain Mrs. Fazi who claimed to be the previous owner of the said plot of land and had papers to prove the transaction.
Mr Hanjura claims that the documents with him are Revenue Department records that confirmed that the land was still in Mrs Fazi's name even though the area was being used by the Defence. He was told that once the plot was his, he could claim rent from the Defence.
The sale was allegedly cleared by the Defence Estates Office in Srinagar whose permission was mandatory since the land fell in an area under its use. It was also verified by the Revenue Department citing that the said plot belonged to Mrs. Fazi and not the Defence Ministry.
Mr Hanjura bought the plot for a pittance of Rs 20,000, which he thought was quite a bargain, until he was told that it was a fraudulent sale of Defence land.
"I have been deceived...I have obtained a No-objection Certificate from the Defence Estates Office...That way, it was perfect for me to purchase this land", said Mr Hanjura.
But he is not the only one who seems to have been duped. According to documents with NDTV, at least other 60 buyers risked purchasing village land right inside the airfield since 2008, hoping to earn a rent from the Defence. They drew assurance from the fact that Defense officials had okayed the purchases.
NDTV has accessed many of these No-Objection Certificates (NOC)issued by the previous Defence Estates Office head Ajay Chowdhary that claim that the plots were neither acquired nor requisitioned nor hired by the Defence Ministry, thus blatantly contradicting documents that show that the Defence Ministry acquired this whole area comprising all 2,300 acres, way back in the 1950s and the 1960s.
In fact, only 500 acres of these acquisitions have been updated in the revenue records of the state till now because of red tape and inefficiency in both the Defence and Revenue offices.
"The Revenue Department does not give any documents required unless they get no-objection, requisite clearance from the Defence Estates Office. Once they give no objection, that means all encumbrances are ruled out", Rafi Ahmad, Deputy Commissioner & Collector, Budgam District said.
The Srinagar Defence Estates, which is now under a new officer, has challenged petitions of five buyers who demanded rent, alternately asking it to vacate the land.
The Defence Estates has argued that these petitions be dismissed, since the purchase of these plots was part of a scam. It has also stopped issuing NOCs pertaining to any land sale in the area.
NDTV had, in an investigative report nearly four months ago brought to light this alleged irregularity. It's only now that the agencies have stood up and taken note of this. The Central Bureau of Investigation has finally ordered a probe into the incident.