An FIR has been lodged against twelve persons by a resident of Hill View area under Hirapur Police Station. This action follows Law Minister Moloy Ghatak’s directive to the West Burdwan District Magistrate to take stern action against land mafias. On 1 December, a group of 50 to 60 armed individuals, allegedly belonging to land mafias, forcefully entered a plot and assaulted local security personnel and others present. The entire incident was captured on CCTV footage, which subsequently went viral.

This triggered a massive public agitation, forcing the local MLA to visit Hill View and hold a meeting with the residents. The MLA subsequently submitted a written complaint to the District Magistrate, urging stern action. He said that he had never witnessed such hooliganism before and declared that he would not tolerate such activities by land mafias. Earlier, in September of this year, the MLA had filed complaints against eleven instances of land encroachment and illegal pond filling in Asansol. The Asansol Durgapur Police Commissionerate (ADPC) has so far arrested five individuals for government land encroachment and illegally filling water bodies. Hirapur Police Station has registered a case against twelve individuals named in the FIR and another 25 unidentified persons in connection with the incident.

Advertisement

The individuals named in the FIR are: Dharmendra Kumar Singh, Satyam Singh, Rameshwar Singh, Ritesh Singh, Nikki Paswan, Mannu Srivastav, Chandan Prasad, Piyush Singh, Santosh Singh, etc. Akash Singh, who filed the FIR, stated that he had purchased the 1.10-cottah plot in 2023 and was in the process of constructing a boundary wall when the miscreants attacked. Three individuals – Rahul Kumar, Tamal Chakraborty, and Arti Paswan – were injured in the assault. The Hill View Park Development Committee also lodged a separate complaint with the police station after meeting with Law, Judiciary, and Labour Minister Moloy Ghatak. Basanti Aich, a local resident, described the incident as swift and shocking, akin to a Bollywood movie, leaving everyone stunned and terrified.

Recently, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee directed DGP Rajeev Kumar to take stern action against land mafias across the state during an administrative meeting at Nabanna. Following this directive, the Asansol Durgapur Police Commissionerate has also initiated raids and made arrests.