Patna: Union minister Giriraj Singh's name has been included in the land-grab FIR since he allegedly purchased a plot from a person who had no legal power to sell the land, police said on Thursday.

The FIR has been lodged on the basis of a complaint filed by Danapur resident Ram Narayan Prasad who had approached the Patna civil court on July 13 last year alleging that 33 persons had conspired to grab his two acres and 56 decimal of land for sale and purchase. He said that all the accused had helped in illegal sale of a total 60 decimal of his ancestral land on the basis of forged land rent receipts.

Danapur station house officer Sandeep Kumar said Giriraj has been accused of purchasing the plot from a person who had no legal power to sell the land. Referring to the complainant's claim in the FIR, Kumar said Giriraj and the others purchased the plot without his (Ram Narayan's) consent despite the fact that he was the real owner of the land. An under-construction apartment and entrance gate of a public school are located on the land.

Giriraj's name has been mentioned as the accused number 25 in the FIR. The BJP MP from Nawada, a resident of Barahia in Lakhisarai district, is at present the Union minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises. He could not be reached for comments.

Ram Narayan, a resident of Ashopur village in Danapur, has claimed that his land was first illegally sold in 1957 and subsequently in 1972 before it was finally gifted to a third person through a deed of gift in 1992. The land had been in illegal possession of one Rajaram Rai, a resident of Danapur and his family, he alleged.

The complainant told the court that he and his three brothers had got two acres and 56 decimal of land from their mother Bal Kuwar Devi, who was gifted the land by her brother Bipat Ram through a deed of gift in 1948. Though Ram had a daughter, she did not have any child and hence Ram Narayan had got 60 decimal land in his share.

Ram Narayan, a former sarpanch of Lakhnibigha panchayat, told the court that the Danapur police and officials of the district administration didn't pay heed to his complaint as the accused were influential persons.

On July 14, 2017, the court took cognizance of the complaint case and later issued an order to the Patna senior superintendent of police to get an FIR lodged with the police station concerned. On February 2 this year, a formal FIR was lodged against the accused.

Patna senior superintendent of police Manu Maharaaj said on Thursday that the case had been lodged against Giriraj Singh and 32 others on the direction of the court. "Action will be taken on the basis of evidence," he said, adding that city SP (west) Rabinder Kumar would supervise the case.