5,000 sq ft of Corporation land sold in Salem

SALEM: The Salem Coroporation has initiated steps to retrieve 5,000 sq ft of prime land, sold in a “daring land grab act”. Official sources said the land (survey no. 17/20), donated to the Salem panchayat union in 1986 was allocated for a public park in the Indian Bank Colony at Narasothipatti.  However, no development activity was carried out. As the land remained vacant, one of the two original donors sold the land to C V Raja of the same area. Curiously enough, the registration department had registered the land showing a guideline value of `15.10 lakh. The market value was about `2,000 per sqft then. After the Corporation came to know of it recently,  a complaint was lodged with the Sooramangalam police.