Thiruvananthapuram: The middle-man in the Choornikara land scam, Abu was arrested by the Aluva police on Friday. An employee of the Revenue Department has also been arrested. B Arun, the attender at Land Revenue Commissionerate Office, Thiruvananthapuram was arrested on the basis of Abu's statement.
Arun hails from Aryanadu, Meenangal. He was dismissed from ex-minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan's personal staff force on account of poor attitude and behavior. He is a former member of NGO Association.
The forgery came to notice when the Choornikara village office discovered that fake documents were submitted for the conversion of agricultural land into resildentila land. The Kalady Sreebhoothapuram inhabitant, Abu had taken Rs 7 Lakh from the owner for land reclamation. The land owner, Hamsa confirmed that Abu had forged documents for the land.
When the Village Office of Choornikara rejected the plea to convert the agricultural land to residential land, a fake order with Commisioner's seal arrived seeking the speedy redressal of the matter. On investigation, the suspicious authorities discovered that the order was forged.
It is possible that a gang involved in forging documents with the aid of government officials is operational in the area.
More details have been discovered from the inspection of Abu's phone. Abu's testimony says that the arrested employee from land revenue department aided him in forging the document. A few officials from Aluva Taluk office and Choornikara Village office were summoned and their statements were recorded.
Several forged documents were found at Abu's residence. It is suspected that he has been involved in adding several properties around Aluva to the Basic Tax Register (BTR) through forgery. The police is investigating the matter.
Double standards
The hesitancy of the Kerala government in holding a probe into the suspect reclamation of vast swathes of land by a real estate group in Kunnathunadu points to its double standards over such issues as it had promptly ordered a Vigilance Department probe into a shady deal involving 25 cents of land at Aluva.
It is felt that the LDF government in Kerala was allegedly trying to protect vested interests by not calling for a probe into the reclamation of 15 acres of paddy field at Kunnathunadu village in Ernakulam district. The revenue department's nod to reclaim the land in Kunnathunadu was in violation of the Kerala Paddy and Wetlands Act. Though the officials put on hold the order after a controversy erupted, the government did not opt for a probe.
The disputed land is owned by Kochi-based real estate concern Speaks Properties Pvt Ltd.
Even the Chief Minister’s Office was reportedly not in favour for a Vigilance probe into the Kunnathunadu land row. The revenue department then decided to hold the order for reclamation. The department had issued the order in favour of Speaks.
It is said a file that was sent to law secretary on the matter was called back before he could note down his opinion.
When Manorama raised the issue, revenue additional secretary, who issued the order, came forward with an explanation: "Based on a decision taken by higher-ups, I merely issued the order in my capacity as the official concerned. I have no other role in it."
If a probe was held, it would be revealed who these higher-ups were. To avoid this, the order was stalled and a decision was taken not to hold a probe, sources said.
