PIL in Calcutta HC says land mafia forcefully buying land from farmers

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Monday took up a PIL claiming that over 100 hectare of agricultural land was forcibly bought from farmers by land mafia at Singur, the location of Tata Motors’ Nano abandoned factory. The PIL claimed that around 117 hectare of multi-crop land was forcibly bought from farmers by land sharks in Singur. [caption id=“attachment_1011151” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Image for representation only. AFP[/caption] It was alleged that goons hired by unscrupulous businessmen had dumped fly ash on plots of those who had refused to part with their land, making it useless for farming. Petitioner Kunal Guha Roy claimed that the nature and character of land was being changed without any sanction from the authorities and that water bodies were also being filled up illegally. It was prayed that steps be taken against those who were indulging in such illegal activities and restoration of land that was damaged or filled, petitioner’s counsels Bikash Bhattacharya and Rabi Shankar Chatterjee said. A division bench, comprising Chief Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Joymalyo Bagchi directed the West Bengal Land and Land Revenue Department to file an affidavit stating the facts and ground position within three weeks. The government’s position on the 997 acre acquired by the previous dispensation for the Nano factory was that 400 acres be returned to unwilling farmers who had refused to accept compensation for acquisition of their land. PTI