A house on the encroached plot in Chhapra. Telegraph picture

Chhapra, June 22: Help comes in many forms and sometimes in disguise.

Thanks to retired professor Bhupendra Narayan Singh, who filed a civil case (677/2010) in Chhapra court over land dispute against his neighbour Rajiv Kumar Pathak, the Bihar State Religious Trust Board too has come across a dispute on its plot. Now, the trust board has also been made a co-defendant in the case.

Singh’s house is adjacent to Ramleela Mathia, spread over seven bighas. Pathak encroached upon the plot in front of Singh’s house, which belonged to the Bihar State Religious Trust Board.

When the board came to know about the property been encroached, it sent a legal representative, Ram Sugat Singh, to take stock of the situation. Ram filed a detailed report touching upon the points that how the land was gradually encroached upon and how houses were constructed on the plot. The report also said the entire process was allegedly done fraudulently.

On this information, the religious board acted swiftly and one of the trustees of the board, Chhapra Sadar sub-divisional officer (SDO) Vinay Kumar Pandey, served notices to all the 62 house owners.

In the notice it was mentioned that on whose permission they purchased the land and constructed the houses. Pandey also served notice to Nagar Parishad that under what circumstances it allowed the construction of houses on the Ramleela Mathia land, a property of the state religious trust board.

The SDO told The Telegraph today that he had sought clarifications within seven days. “After getting the replies, legal action would be taken. The houses on the plot could be demolished too, if the law permits,” he said.

Legal action would be taken against the officials concerned of Nagar Parishad also. If the religious board takes stringent action, many politicians, former MLAs and businessmen would have to feel the heat of the legal proceedings.

Ramleela Mathia’s history dates back to 250 years. The seven-bigha land, considered a religious and historical place, used to host Ram leelas (plays) and other religious functions.

Till 1983, everything was going fine and the Nagar Parishad was being paid taxes.

The legal representative of the board reported that in 1983, one Shiva Kumar Pathak alias Ramji Sharan, fraudulently got the bakhshishnama of the land in his name. Thereafter, the encroachment and sale of land started. After the death of Pathak, his son Rajiv Kumar Pathak continued to sell the land, the report said.

The SDO expressed surprise that despite that the board paid the taxes on time, the land was sold to third parties.