Sarita Agrawal, the wife of State Minister Brijmohan Agrawal has been accused of encroaching on 13.9 hectares of government land for a project. Initially, Agrawal was accused of acquiring 4.12 hectares of forest land in Chhattisgarh, however, chief minister Raman Singh sought an official report on the deal.
As per Indian Express reports, investigations by Mahasamund district revenue officials have also found that notices red-flagging the “encroachment” were sent four months ago to Aditya Srijan Pvt Ltd, the company which acquired the land and has Sarita Agrawal and Abhishek Agrawal, the son of Brijmohan Agrawal, as its directors.
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Replying to the notice through its representatives, the company struck a resistant note and stated that they wanted to retain this parcel of government land, which they claimed was within their property’s boundaries. In exchange, records show, they offered to give the government another tract.
Notably, on July 25, it was reported that 4.12 hectares of land, which was donated by a farmer Vishnu Sahu to the Water Resources Department in 1994, was subsequently transferred to the Forest department, with Rs 22.90 lakh spent on it in 2003 for afforestation. According to records, this land was then purchased by the Minister’s wife. According to government records, six of the 15 different tracts of land allegedly encroached, totalling over 10 hectares, have been documented as “chhote jhaad ke jungle” and “bade jhaad ke jungle”, or jungles comprising small and big shrubs.
The company has, however, denied the charges.
