UP: FIR lodged against village head, 31 others for encroachment on gram sabha land in Ballia

Ballia (UP), Jan 5 (PTI) Police have registered an FIR naming a village head and 31 others for alleged illegal occupation of a land recorded as a gram sabha asset in Uttar Pradesh's Ballia district, officials said on Monday.

According to the police, the case was registered at Ubhaon police station on Sunday on the complaint of Lekhpal (village officer) Pradeep Kumar of the Haldi Rampur area.

The FIR names village head Anant Dev Singh Yadav and 30 others under sections 2 and 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.

Quoting the FIR, police said the complaint states that a plot of land in Haldi Rampur village is recorded as 'naveen parti' (surplus gram sabha land) in the revenue records. The land had earlier been allotted for residential purposes, but the district magistrate's court cancelled the allotment on July 11, 2023. At present, the land is entered in the gram sabha account.

Despite this, the land was allegedly encroached upon, fenced with bamboo poles and other materials, the FIR said.

When the tehsildar and police visited the spot on January 4 and directed the encroachment be removed, those occupying the land claimed they had been settled there, with temporary houses erected on the directions of village head Anant Dev Singh Yadav.

The encroachers allegedly refused to remove the illegal occupation even after being asked to do so.

Station House Officer Sanjay Shukla said police are probing the matter and necessary legal action is being taken. PTI COR KIS ARB ARB