Team Herald
MAPUSA: Finally, the Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC) on Friday demolished an alleged illegal house grabbed by Siddique alias Suleman Mohammad Khan at Ekta Nagar, Mapusa.
The municipality commenced the demolition of houses built in the property allegedly illegally grabbed by Suleman.
Forty-six-year-old Suleman Khan, a resident of Madel, Tivim is the alleged mastermind in several land grabbing cases reported in the State in 2022 and which are being probed by Special Investigation Team (Land Grabbing).
This is the first demolition action carried out in an illegal land grab case.
The demolition has been initiated as per directions of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. Suleman is still absconding after commission of the crimes, informed police.
According to the police, the structure at Ekta Nagar, Mapusa was demolished since the property was illegally grabbed and houses were constructed there without obtaining necessary permissions from competent authorities.
Goa Police tweeted, “Long arm of law in action! On Hon'ble CM's directions, illegal structures at Ekta Nagar, Mapusa, linked to absconding land grabber Suleman Siddique, were demolished today (Friday). The action, overseen by SIT (Land Grabbing), followed due legal procedure.”
On November 1 last year, the One-Man Commission headed by retired Judge of High Court of Bombay Justice V K Jadhav had submitted its report on land grabbing cases to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. The One-Man Commission in its report had suggested how to stop land grabbing and how to revert the land to its original owners.
The SIT of Goa Police registered as many as 111 cases of land grab involving 93 parcels of land and properties measuring 1.5 lakh square metres across the State. It had also arrested seven scamsters on charges of land grabbing.