The killing of Vazir Khan in Charodi village of Sanand on Tuesday is the first instance of land dispute leading to murder since the formation of the Special Investigation Team to look into such cases.
The killing of Vazir Khan in Charodi village of Sanand on Tuesday is the first instance of land dispute leading to murder since the formation of the Special Investigation Team to look into such cases.
Several land disputes were reported in the last seven months but they were limited to some violence and at the most suicide attempts. By May 2011, seven months since the formation of SIT, a total of 37 FIRs related to land disputes have been registered.
Over five dozen people have been arrested in this connection.
These FIRs deal with instances of land disputes in which land was sold through fraudulent means and forged documents. In several cases the land owners were betrayed by crooks or their own relatives.
"It's the greed and the phenomenal rise in land prices that are leading to ruckus in the region. There are people (dead investors) who do nothing but create rumours about land prices so that they remain high.
They heavily invest in land to create a land bank which they then sell to industries being set up in the vicinity," opines Prakash N Pathak, a resident of Sanand and past president of Lions Club. Pathak said that the farmers in the region are only now recognising the importance of money.
"They buy all fancy things they were deprived off. Earlier their land could hardly feed them. In the past few years, greed has crept in due to lack of a proper regulatory mechanism to check the cash flow in real estate," he said.
Maximum number of land disputes were reported from Bopal, Sarkhej, Sanand, Viramgam, Kanbha and other rural areas in Ahmedabad district.
According to police, rapid industrialisation and soaring realty prices have made farmers more vulnerable and they fall prey to land sharks.
"This is just a bubble, but if the situation continues in the near future the bubble will burst leading to social upheaval all in the name of land," said MM Malek, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Ahmedabad rural police who is a member of SIT as well.
"Till 2008, the land price in Sanand was about Rs2 to Rs3 lakh per acre. Now, the same land costs at least 20 times more. This is the mathematics of the real estate boom in Sanand," said Jigneshbhai Prajapati, a teacher in Sanand.
In fact, the vast stretch of pasture as well as agricultural land in Sanand has become a virtual goldmine, thanks to the phenomenal boom in real estate and rapid industrial growth.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}