NCP (SP) leader Bhau Patil alleges Rs 2,000 crore land scam in Kalyan Rural, seeks probe

Political temperatures are likely to rise in the Kalyan Rural area over deals in government land. Bhau Patil, an office-bearer of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), has alleged that a land scam of about Rs 2,000 crore has taken place in the area. He has demanded a thorough investigation and that the truth be brought before the public.

According to Patil's allegation, the builder lobby had large tracts of government land in the area transferred to its names by paying only 10 per cent of the land's actual value. He also claims that crores of rupees in profit were made from these deals, and said big buildings are now being constructed on the land. There is currently no information that the allegations have been confirmed by any independent official source.

It is said that Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule took the alleged deals seriously and appointed a Special Investigation Team (SIT). However, Patil claims that two months on, the SIT's report has still not been made public.

Patil says several aspects of the case need to be examined. Under what rules the government land was transferred, whether the land was valued correctly, and whether rules were violated in the deals must all come out, he said.

He has demanded that the truth about the alleged land scam reach the public and that the deals be investigated transparently. He also said the SIT report should be made public soon and its findings stated clearly.

Patil has warned that if the SIT report is not made public soon, he will launch a mass agitation. The NCP (SP) has also said it will approach the court in the matter.

The allegations have brought the issue of the alleged land deals in Kalyan Rural back into discussion. All eyes are now on what the SIT report finds, whether rules are found to have been violated in the deals, and whether any action is taken against those found guilty.