Land mafia including govt officers booked for illegally planting trees in Uttarakhand

A case was registered against secretaries of Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA), Doon Valley Special Area Development Authority (SADA), along with the district forest officer, horticulture officer and the land mafia in Vikasnagar police station for illegally cutting trees and converting the land into residential plots.

The case was registered under the Uttar Pradesh Tree Protection Act and several Sections of IPC, according to a press note.

It was alleged that several trees were cut by the land mafia on 400 bigha land without the authorisation of the government and plots of land were sold to various people.

According to the press note, no action was taken against the land mafia by the Secretary of the Doon Valley SADA, Divisional Forest Officer of the Forest Department, Kalsi and District Horticulture Officer of the Horticulture Department and the subordinate officer of the above department, nor did they perform their duties as public servants.

A PIL was filed by Anuj Kansal in Nainital High Court, after which the court issued an order to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the case.

( With inputs from ANI )