Puri administration takes possession of land

PURI: The district administration on Friday took possession of 1306 acres of land in Sipasuruballi, which was settled in favour of the State Government by the settlement officer earlier this week.The possession was taken amidst the deployment of two platoons of armed police and magistrates, Tahasildars of Puri Sadar, Brahmagiri and Krushnaprasad besides the revenue staff led by the Additional District Magistrate PK Senapati. On their arrival the officials found some men guarding the land but were driven away by the police. The area was first demarcated and red flag posts erected. Later these would be converted into concrete walls, said the ADM. The newly joined District Magistrate, Arabind Agarwal was also present. The 1306 acres was thickly populated with casuarina and cashew forest worth a Rs 100 crore while the land as per the present day estimate was pegged at Rs 3,000 crore.The Settlement Officer, Nihar Ranjan Mohanty, was conducting final hearings in seven other similar cases and the results are expected next week.  Fearing tampering of records by the land grabbers steps have been taken to protect the related case files, the officials said.