Mumbai: Revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Wednesday said a special investigation team (SIT) will look into allegations of large-scale fraud in the acquisition of land for national highways and other projects in Jalgaon district.The SIT will be headed by Nashik divisional commissioner Praveen Gedam, and will have one IPS and two IAS officers so that all criminal angles can be covered, he said in the assembly. The report is to be tabled in the House in three months. BJP’s Mangesh Chavan, who raised the issue, said it was suspected that multiple departments were involved in the irregularities. “The nature of the allegations is extensive—that not only the revenue department, but NHAI, stamp duty department, land acquisition office, land records and local revenue officials were also involved. It is necessary to investigate where the irregularities occurred, from taking the records to preparing the awards. This SIT will examine the land awards of not just one but nine villages,” said Bawankule. “The compensation for land acquisition was not distributed. So, we stopped the fraud in time. Therefore, there has been no financial fraud on govt. However, was there an attempt to cheat govt. Were project maps changed for certain people? The SIT will investigate all these matters,” he said. Chavan alleged NCP (SP) MLC Eknath Khadse was involved in the land transactions and demanded a thorough probe. Khadse had earlier served as an MLA from Muktainagar in Jalgaon. —Chaitanya Marpakwar
