Congress seeks CBI probe in alleged Bihar land scam

Accusing the NDA government of nepotism in allotment of BIADA land at a 'throw away' price to the favoured few, including kin of ministers and bureaucrats, the Congress on Sunday demanded a CBI probe in the matter.

The state government has apparently rewarded its favourite people by allotting Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority land at a 'throw away price' for construction of schools, malls, shopping complexes, hotels, cinema halls etc against the stated policy to promote industrial development in the state, the state unit Congress President Chaudhary Mehboob Ali Kaiser told reporters.

In a particular instance, a plot of 2.5 acres of BIADA land was allotted to a person for construction of a shopping mall at Hajipur for a measely amount of Rs44 lakhs against the prevailing market rate of Rs three crores per acre, he claimed.

In other instances, the land was allotted to the kin of ministers and bureaucrats at the expense of public interest, Kaiser said, adding that the alleged land scam was worth more than the combined value of all scams that has taken place in Bihar till now.

The sheer magnitude of the amount involved in the BIADA land scam and the manner in which the rules were tweaked to allot the land to the beneficiaries on 'first come first serve' basis, smacked of corruption that required to be investigated by the CBI, the state unit Congress chief said.