A village officer’s diligence has blown the lid off a Statewide racket that forged government orders and land records to enable the land mafia to convert wetlands and paddy fields to prime real estate in Kochi and possibly other major urban centres.
The case, which has prompted Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to order an investigation by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on Monday, came to light when the village officer doubted the veracity of an order by the Land Revenue Commissioner (LRC) allowing a private person to reclaim and convert 25 cents of paddy into real estate in Choornikara village in Ernakulam.
Clarification sought
He sought clarification from the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO). The petitioner turned up a few days later with a letter purportedly from the RDO. The document, which is now in question, authenticated the message of the Commissioner and instructed the village officer to allow the petitioner to convert the wetland into real estate.
However, the officer did not take the petitioner’s submission at face value. The fact that Land Revenue Commissioner U.V. Jose was on deputation to a neighbouring State for election duty and his office was temporarily vested with Revenue Secretary V. Venugopal further strengthened his suspicions.
The officer’s finding prompted Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekharan to inform the Chief Minister about the fraud. A preliminary inquiry by the Revenue Department has raised the possibility of an inside job. The seals embossed on the suspected documents appeared to bear the hallmark of original revenue department stamps, and the language on the papers was characteristic of official deeds.
Officials said the suspect order directly contravened the provisions of the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2008.
They said the racket appeared to be widespread. The LRC’s office has formed a special squad to examine applications filed for wetland conservation since 2018 for starts. Investigators said big money could be involved given the land value in metros in Kerala. They said the investigation also underscored the need to protect the State’s dwindling biodiversity from human interference driven solely by a profit motive.