IVRCL chief, state officials booked after HC prod

Chandrapur: Ghugus police have registered a criminal offence against chairman of IVRCL Infrastructure and Project Ltd, E Sudhir Reddy, director of IVRCL Chandrapur Tollways Ltd, Hyderabad, Rajesh Laxmikant Mamidwar and several high ranking officers from PWD, land records and survey, revenue department following the high court directive to that effect.
The companies are engaged in building 85-km-long state highway between Karanji-Wani-Ghugus-Chandrapur.While constructing the road on Dhanora-Gadchandur stretch, IVRCL needed an acre of land from two plots owned by the petitioners Nikul Patel and others.
On July 25, 2014, PWD officers and IVRCL men assisted by officials from the land records and survey, teshildar and police personnel had forcibly taken possession of one acre land under the garb of carrying out measurements. They also uprooted the fencing, gate and cleared hundreds of teak trees with the help of JCB machine. Ghugus police had video recorded entire exercise of taking possession of the land.
Petitioners had lodged a complaint in this regard with the SP, Chandrapur, on July 28, 2014. The SP, however, overlooked the plea forcing the aggrieved farmers to knock the doors of high court. The Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court, in its ruling over a writ petition No. 632/2014, found the accused government officers and IVRCL officials guilty of forcibly taking possession of the land.
Apart from IVRCL top bosses, those booked in the case include executive engineer RP Kharge, deputy engineer SV Giri and junior engineer Ashok Pachpor of PWD, Pandharkawda division (Yavatmal), former deputy superintendent, BD Kurwade, and surveyor DM Nichat of deputy superintendent office of land records, Chandrapur, deputy superintendent of land records Khandala (Satara), Shiv Prasad Gaurkar, then teshildar of Chandrapur, Ganesh Shinde along with site officers of IVRCL Jagdish Pise and Peshkar.
The accused have been booked under charges of public servants disobeying the law and framing incorrect documents, fabricating evidences, cheating, mischief causing damage to property, criminal trespass, theft (sections 166,167, 192, 193, 420,447,427, 379 of IPC).
More accused involved in the forcible dispossession of petitioners from their land are likely to be booked after identification on the basis of visual evidence available with Ghugus police. Ghugus PSO, Sudhakar Ambhore, is investigating the case.