An apartment under construction, which has disputes related to land grab, on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, March 13: As real estate business in Bhubaneswar booms, land-related crime is also on the rise. The latest case was the killing of land broker Manas Mohapatra in Chandaka yesterday.

According to a senior police officer, land disputes are becoming increasingly frequent in the city with two or three cases being reported at the police stations almost daily. The majority of these cases come from the periphery areas of the city like Chandrasekharpur, Khandagiri, Badagada, Mancheswar, Balinata and Balipatna.

For the Chandaka police, the case of 35-year-old Manas Mohapatra, whose body was found by the Chandaka-Khandagiri road yesterday, has become a real test. Though the police still believe it to be a hit and run case, family members of the broker continue to cry murder. The body had injury marks on the skull and the face.

Enraged by the attitude of the police, people of Andharua village, where the broker was from, gathered at the spot today where his body was found and blocked the road. It was only after police reached the spot and convinced the people that the case would be probed from all possible angles that the blockade was withdrawn.

Sources said that land disputes were on the rise because the city was growing fast and purchase and sale of land has become a lucrative business. “Land grabbing in the city has become common,” said a senior police officer.

According to the land dealers in the city, the land rates here are higher than other cities in the country. The land in the central part of the city like the IRC village area, Shahid Nagar area, Janpath area and Old Town costs more in comparison to plots on the outskirts.

While in the central part of the city, one square feet of land costs between Rs 3,500 and 4,500, on the outskirts like Chandrasekharpur and Patia, the cost is around Rs 3,000.

Likewise, land beside the national highway towards Khurda costs more than land towards Cuttack as some well-known educational institutions have come up in this area. The varying rate of lands in the city has prompted many businessmen to focus on real estate. Many young men have taken to brokering land deals to make a living.

Though land disputes fall in the category of civil cases, sometimes the disputes take violent turns and criminal cases have to be registered.