Bhubaneswar, Jan 30 (PTI) The administration of Odisha’s Khurda district on Sunday stopped construction works on a piece of land that originally belonged to Lord Lingaraj, the presiding deity of Bhubaneswar, but was sold to the wife of the managing director of a mining firm, an official said.
The land is close to the Biju Patnaik International Airport here.
Bhubaneswar Tahsildar, PK Sahu, said the district administration stopped construction work on the site as per the direction of the Board of Revenue Court which has been hearing a revision case related to the land.
As per records, the mining firm owner’s wife purchased 228-decimal plot of land from one person for Rs 6.45 crore. The deed of sale was made on November 5, 2021 at Bhubaneswar where the Lord Lingaraj Temple, the famous 11th century Shaivite shrine, is located.
In September 2020, the then Revenue Secretary BP Sethi had directed the Khurda district collector to bring back the land owned by Lord Lingaraj to the temple’s land records.
Sethi had also directed the collector to refer the matter on change in ownership of the “Debottar” land to the Crime Branch for an investigation.
A revision case on bringing back the Deottar land has been under trial before the Board of Revenue Court, sources said.
BJD minister Ashok Chandra Panda, who is also the MLA of the area, said the land owned by Lord Lingaraj will not be handed over to anyone.
The plot of land in question was earlier being occupied by a family of a servitor who was in charge of the temple treasury and performing puja, he said adding that action will be taken if there was any illegality in this matter.
BJP state president Samir Mohanty attacked the BJD government claiming that corruption in the state administration has reached such a level that even Lord Lingaraj’s land has not been spared.
Congress leader Suresh Routray also expressed concern over the encroachment of Lord Lingaraj’s land and demanded its recovery. PTI AAM NN NN
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Source: The Print
