RAUTAHAT, FEBRUARY 24

It has been confirmed that elected local representatives and staffers of Gaur Municipality, Rautahat, were hand in-glove with the land mafia in their attempt to gobble up the prized land of Gaur Rice Mills and make quick bucks by selling it off.

Set up in 1951, Gaur Rice and Flour Mills was closed down in 1969. The land has been used as public property ever since the mill was closed.

But plots are being hatched by shrewd land mafia as they attempt to transfer the land in their name by hook or crook and make a huge profit by selling off the valuable property.

Very recently, even elected local representatives and municipality staff were reckoned to be aiding and abetting the mafia in their dirty game. This has enraged the public.

When asked about his involvement in the land fraud, Ward 1 Secretary of Gaur Municipality Binod Paswan said he was made to forge the official document related to the land when he was under the influence. Paswan, who is said to have forged the official document for the land mafia looking to grab the mill's land, said this when contacted. He was said to have fled the country following the revelation of his involvement in the illegal act.

Paswan spoke from his hideout in Bairganiya, India.

'This happened one year ago. Ward 3 member Lal Mahammad approached me and asked to certify the boundary of the land in question citing instruction of the ward chairperson Shayamshundar Patel.

When I asked why I had to do it when they had a secretary in their own ward, I was told that she didn't know how to write the document and I was thus obliged to do so,' Paswan said.

'I had a man with an official letter pad and I was a little bit tipsy, so I did whatever they asked me to do,' he added. He also said he regretted that he fell into the trap of Rautahat Cricket Association officials and local representatives. The cricket association has been using the mill's land as a cricket ground lately. Besides, ward members Lal Mahammad and Sanjaya Karna, are also said to be involved in this scheme.

Earlier, journalists had walked out of a dinner party thrown for them at a local hotel in Gaur where officials of Rautahat Cricket Association had asked them to keep mum and indirectly support the machination to sell over 6 bigha land in the district headquarters, saying the association would build its stadium elsewhere.

Though the past government led by Madhav Kumar Nepal had brought the mill's land under its name, the Supreme Court's decision to repeal the land transfer citing procedural reasons has given the mafia a pretext to launch their own bids to grab the land for themselves. CPN-Unified Socialist leader Shambhu Sah condemned the attempts being made by the land mafia to grab the public property. He said they would do everything to protect the asset of the local residents. He also asked the mayor to take responsibility for the shenanigans involving the municipality staff to forge documents related to the land.

The local youths of Gaur today submitted a memorandum to Chief District Officer Krishna Bahadur Shahi demanding action against the people involved in the attempt to grab the land and provide assurance to protect the land.

A version of this article appears in the print on February 25, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.