Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
An alleged case of land grabbing has come to light involving the Imam of Sambhal’s Jama Masjid, Maulana Aftab Hussain Waris, and his brother Mehtab Hussain.
The local administration registered a complaint against the two for registering two acres of government land as Waqf property by concealing facts. According to police officials, the market value of this prime land is estimated to be over Rs 5 crore.
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According to official investigations, the disputed land is located in UP’s Saif Khan Sarai area, which is public property originally designated for community tree plantation.
Records reveal that the two brothers allegedly colluded with local land registry officials decades ago to fraudulently register the public property under their own names.
The two allegedly built a house, a mosque, and a dargah on the site. They also submitted forged documents and hid the fact that it was government land to get the entire property registered with the Waqf Board.
Although a local administrative court formally revoked their land titles and cancelled the fraudulent registrations on January 27, 2003, the illegal structures and encroachment on the government property were never cleared.
Following a detailed investigation, a formal complaint was lodged by Revenue Officer (Lekhpal) Mukesh Yadav. Acting on this, the Sambhal Sadar Kotwali Police registered an FIR against Imam Aftab Hussain, Mehtab Hussain, and the complicit revenue employees.
The case has been registered under stringent sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including 329(3), 318(4), 336(3), 338, and 340(2), along with relevant sections of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
Senior police official from Sambhal, KK Bishnoi, confirmed that the Waqf Tribunal has already passed a ruling on this matter.
Before this FIR, the bench of Dhirendra Kumar Singh at a local court had already ordered the demolition of the illegal structures on March 7 and imposed a massive penalty of Rs 7 crore on the brothers for long-term encroachment.
While the Imam has appealed that eviction order in the District Magistrate’s court, this new revelation of forging Waqf documents has severely deepened their legal troubles.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
