Cuttack, July 10: A CBI inquiry into the Bidanasi land scam has confirmed large-scale illegal possession of government land in the area situated in the southwest fringes of the city.

The investigating agency surveyed 4,868 houses at 13 mouzas (villages) of Bidanasi. “Of them, 2,867 occupants were found to be squatters, who did not have valid land documents other than possession of election cards, electricity connections, water connections, ration cards and native certificates obtained from government agencies,” the CBI said in its report submitted in Orissa High Court.

Plots and roads were earmarked on government land by “unscrupulous elements” and later sold to the buyers, said the CBI.

Most of the squatters have paid money to these people for taking possession of the government land, but they have no receipts of such payments, the report said.

The Bidanasi land scam had surfaced after advocate Chittaranjan Mohanty had filed a PIL alleging that revenue officials, in connivance with land mafia, were allowing encroachment and facilitating possession on government land in the area.

On January 18, 2012, the high court ordered a CBI probe. On April 25, the court asked the CBI to submit final report by June end. The matter was listed on June 3, but did not reach for hearing.

Though large patches of government land were recorded to be in illegal possession of various occupants, “no serious effort beyond issuance of encroachment notice in some cases have been made to take back the land in illegal possession”. As a result, the occupants were able to either sell most of the land to prospective buyers or build houses to rent them out.

The examined occupants said no one had objected to their occupying and building of houses on the land. “The type of constructions made on the government land indicate the involvement of tehsil staff members,” the report observed.

“None of the encroachers came up with forged documents of entitlement of land, but 63 persons have been found to have submitted forged patta documents to Cesu for obtaining electricity connections,” the report said.

“The findings of the inquiry and the fact that no encroachment removal was undertaken in the area before 2012 when the high court intervened in the matter are a telling indicator that the revenue department machinery, both at the cutting edge and supervisory levels, has been thoroughly ineffective in protecting the government land,” the report said.

Records collected during the inquiry revealed that all functionaries — from the tehsil office to the revenue secretary — were aware about the encroachment. In 2001, an inquiry was conducted. A list of squatters was prepared by the tehcildar of Cuttack Sadar through his amin on the directions of the ADM (revenue). Around 1,090 squatters were identified.

“No action was, however, taken thereafter. The encroachers, on their part, had also knocked the doors of various courts for relief against encroachment or eviction and have been mostly successful in obtaining relief,” the report said. The CBI has suggested that

“large patches of government land lying vacant should be immediately fenced and signboards should be put up”.