Ayodhya MLA Ved Prakash Gupta and Mayor Rishikesh Upadhyay were among more than a dozen buyers of illegal land.
Ayodhya city mayor Rishikesh Upadhyay, sitting Ayodha MLA from the district’s Sadar constituency Ved Prakash Gupta and former MLA from Milkipur constituency Gorakhnath Baba,
designated as “illegal colonists” of land plots and building infrastructure by the Ayodhya Development Authority (ADA) Out of 40 persons.
On Saturday the list was released and was signed by Ajay Bharti, the accountant of the ADA (Ayodhya Development Authority).
Vice Chairman of ADA (Ayodhya Development Authority) Vishal Singh told news agency PTI (Press Trust of India) on Sunday,
‘The list of forty people who illegally bought land and got erection work done in the authority area was out on Saturday night.
Vishal Singh said, ‘The persons behind have to be questioned. The list is premature and leaked intentionally, it seems. This is wrong.”
Hrishikesh Upadhyay and Ved Prakash Gupta were among more than a dozen buyers of land parcels probed by the media on 22 December last year.
These comprise local Ayodhya MLAs, and close relatives of officials, who were helping in Ayodhya city at the time. After that local revenue administrators whose service was to authenticate land transactions.
Last December, families of politicians and officials bought land in Ayodhya after the Supreme Court decided to approve the construction of a Ram temple.
On 21 November 2019 Gupta’s nephew, Tarun Mittal bought 5,174 square meters in Barhta Manjha for Rs 1.15 crore, and on December 29, 2020, nearly 5 Km from the site of a temple he bought 14,860 square meters at Maheshpur (Gonda) next door to the Saryu River for Rs. 4 crores.
Upadhyay bought 1,480 square meters on 18 September 2019 for Rs 30 lakh.
The Uttar Pradesh Government
The UP government had formed a one-man council to probe land transactions by government officials and public representatives, but the note of the report submitted to the government in January this year is yet to become public.
When approached by Ved Prakash Gupta, he said, “Lekhpal does not have the authority to issue such a list. I have no connections in any deal of land.
Rishikesh Upadhyay (City Mayor) said, “Such lists are out only after due scrutiny. We have no connection in any deal of such illegal land.”
On July 31, a week earlier, Ayodhya MP Lallu Singh, who was also from the BJP, wrote to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, demanding a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the land mafia used in the areas of Jamthara.
Illegal sales and purchases were made. Golaghat in Ayodhya is one of the submerged areas (submerged areas).
In his letter, he said, “The influence of the land mafia is such that with the connivance of the officers/employees posted earlier, the land was transferred to their names by making forged documents and misleading the people.
The land mafia business is flourishing on the land between Jamthara Ghat and Golaghat. When contacted, MP Lallu Singh declined to comment.
Especially after the Supreme Court’s decision on 9 November 2019, there is a competition to buy land in Ayodhya.
The Ayodhya Development Authority had in late July demolished construction done by small-scale buyers in the Majha Jamthara area.
Sources told The Indian Express that the report submitted by the one-man committee after the investigation of the Indian Express is with the revenue department.
An application under the Right to Information Act, seeking a copy of the inquiry report, has not received any response. The second appeal is pending for hearing with the UP-State Information Commission.
