The Hindu : Front Page : Vigilance team to begin probe in Munnar

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 26, 2007
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Vigilance team to begin probe in Munnar

Staff Reporter

To investigate unauthorised land records and role of officials

MUNNAR: A special Vigilance team led by Siby Mathew, Additional Director-General of Police (ADGP), arrived in Munnar on Monday to conduct a probe into unauthorised land records and the role of Government officials in the preparation of fake records. The team will also look into the issue of wealth amassed by some Government officials disproportionate to their source of income.

This is the first visit of the team to Munnar to get a first-hand knowledge of the issue. The team is expected to be here for at least a week. The special team was formed on the basis of the recommendations of a report submitted by Nivedita P. Haran, Principal Secretary, Revenue, who had found prima facie evidence of the connivance of Government officials in the preparation of fake documents in Munnar.

According to sources, the team has been given clear guidelines by the Government and is expected to hold the investigation on the basis of the findings of the earlier reports submitted by various Commissions on the issue of illegal land dealings in Munnar. It is learnt that the Vigilance team will hold parallel investigations in cases already with the Crime Branch in this regard. cases were handed over to the Crime Branch by the Special Investigation Team after it was found that there were illegal dealings. The team has also decided to expedite the investigation in case number VC/10/2003, a Vigilance case that could have crucial bearing on the validity of the so-called ‘Ravindran pattayams’. Meanwhile, the STF has issued a 24-hour notice to the management of the Abad Group to vacate the 4.2-hectare plot that housed their resort. The campus has 20 cottages and 40 rooms. The ownership of the resort in Letchmi area is based on the so-called ‘Vrindavan pattayam’ of 1993.

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