Bathinda villagers spar over land, allege foul play

Bathinda, April 24

A high drama was witnessed at Shergarh village in the district when panchayat members were stopped from harvesting wheat crop on 37 acres. A group of residents from the same village confronted the panchayat members claiming ownership of the land.

Nahar Singh, sarpanch, Shergarh village, said, “There are five to six families who had taken the illegal possession of the panchayati land. After the matter was pursued in courts, in March the district administration had given possession of the land to the panchayat. Today, a police team and officials of the administration visited the site so that wheat harvesting could be started, but the party who had taken illegal possession of the land did not let us do that.”

The wheat on the said tract of land was sown by the group of villagers who were accused of taking illegal possession of the land. The villagers alleged foul play and political patronage in the matter.

Pawan Kumar, tehsildar, Talwandi Sabo, expressed ignorance about the matter. The BDPO could not be contacted despite repeated attempts. Paramvir Singh, ADC (D), said, “We had asked the officials of the area to carry out the work in the village. I think till now the problem has not been solved. — TNS