Ruapandehi is urbanising rapidly, and all types of land, from farmland to public land are being grabbed and sold. In most cases, the people’s representatives have been found to be involved in land grabbing.
Amrita Anmol | CIJ, Nepal
On September 6, workers were tilling Garib Kohar’s land in Lumbini Sanskritik Municipality-10, when a group of people came to survey the land, Radheshyam Gupta, his neighbour found out that the group was from Global IME Bank, and informed him about it. Kohar, who frequented numerous offices to understand why his land was surveyed, found out only later that his land had been sold without his consent.
Garib Kahar shows his plot in Lumbini Sanskritik Municipality-10. His land was sold by fraudsters without his knowledge.
Records from the Bhairahawa land administration office show that 10.85 kattha land was sold on March 2, 2021. Kohar felt as if he had fallen off a tall tree when he found out that 1.8 kattha of land belonging to plot no.507 of map 9 (ka) and 9.05 kattha of land belonging to plot no. 488 from map 6(ka) of the erstwhile Madhubani Village Development Committee-10.
Involvement of people’s representatives.
Ramjan Alimiya
It was revealed that ward chairman Ramjan Alimiya provided the recommendations to prepare counterfeit documents to sell Kohar’s land. It was on January 23, 2021, that the ward chairman issued a recommendation to a man who posed as Kohar to obtain a copy of his citizenship certificate as “it was lost.” The district administration office issued a copy of the citizenship certificate based on the recommendation. While the name on the document was of Kohar, the photo was of the man who posed as Kohar. On March 2, the ward office certified the location of the land as demanded by the new Kohar. Such a certificate is necessary to sell a plot of land.
Records at the land registration office were also tampered with. Kohar’s photo was replaced by that of the new Kohar, who was the ward chief’s father-in-law, a resident of Siddharthanagar in India, said district police spokesperson Satyanarayan Thapa.
The land was then sold to Sandip Karki of Madanpokhara, Palpa on March 2 for Rs 1.96 million. About two months later, the same plot was sold to Govinda Mallah of Kapilvastu Yasodhara Rural Municipality-8 for Rs 19.5 million. Mallah used the land as collateral to get a loan of Rs 15 million from the Taulihawa branch of Global IME Bank. Both the times the piece of land was sold, the same person was listed as a witness to the transaction—Suraj Acharya of Tilottama Municipality-6.
Keshav Subedi, head of the land registration office, Rupandehi, said that the fraud came to light only on September 7 when the real owner of the plot approached the office.
Kohar filed a complaint at the District Administration and Police offices on September 7 saying that his plot of land was illegally sold. Police then arrested Bhagwat Prasad Upadhyaya, an agent at the land registration office, and Govinda Prasad Mallah, who was transferred the land’s entitlement. Rupandehi police chief Manoj KC said that after 60 days of investigation, prosecutors filed a case against 17 individuals at the district court on November 9.
Following the implementation of the Local Government Act, ward offices have been assigned to issue location certificates for land—a document needed to transfer ownership. Following this change, people’s elected representatives have been found to have been involved in fraud related to land.
Indian citizens getting land
Indian National Suwahan Allah’s Aadhar Card. Ramkishan Yadav, chair of Siyari Rural Municipality-2, certified that his name is Buddhiram Kahar, and he is a kin of a Nepali family.
After Ramkishan Tharu, the chief of Siyari Rural Municipality-2 issued a relationship certificate, a plot of land which belonged to a Nepali woman has ended up in the hands of an Indian national.
On September 5, 2019, the ownership of around 3.34 acres of land was transferred to Indian national Buddhiram Kahar under the purview of ward member Brij Narayan Yadav. On September 12, the plot was then sold to four others.
Belar Kahar and his wife Santodevi were the real owners of the plot. Following the death of the couple, Sanju, their daughter is their lone surviving offspring. As Sanju lives with her husband, Belar’s brother Dayanath and nephew Biswanath have been utilising the land and even paying its taxes. They have the land’s deed as well as the Belars’ death certificate. “But the ward chief made some stranger my brother and helped him get the land,” Sanju says. “We are facing great injustice.”
Buddhiram Kahar is a resident of Gopalpur of Gorakhpur district in Uttar Pradesh, India. But the Gopalpur Gram Panchayat issued him a certificate saying that he is a resident of Rupandehi temporarily living there. Based on this document, the ward office of Siyara Rural Municipality-2 recommended the land registration office to register the Kahar couple’s land in his name. Buddhiram possesses an Indian Aadhar card (No. 48) in which his name is Suwahan Allah. (See card photo)
Ward Chief Tharu, whom Allah had allegedly bribed, lied to illiterate locals to get their signature as witnesses saying that the papers were related to the construction of a local road. Nine people including Sangita Bhar, Anil Baniya and Puran Chamar have been listed as witnesses. “We put our thumbprint on the paper after the ward chief told us it was for a road construction project,” Sangita said. Ward Chief Tharu, however, said he made the recommendation based on what was written on the Indian document.
After rumours spread that the plot of land had been sold, Belar’s brothers Dayanath and nephew Bishwanath had filed a complaint at the rural municipality in December 2019. Then the land’s papers were frozen following an investigation, says the rural municipality chief Ayodhya Tharu. “When we ordered the documents, we found that the documents were fake.”
Sanju filed a case at the Rupandehi District Court in August 2020 claiming that land belonging to her had been snatched. The ward chief has also been listed as a defendant in the case, which is yet to be settled. Ananta Marasini, administrative officer at the district court, said an investigation is on about the Indian paper. The court recently wrote to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, and the Nepali Embassy in New Delhi to investigate Buddhiram, who has both Nepali and Indian citizenship.
Following the implementation of federalism in the country, local governments have been given unprecedented authority to serve the people. However, local people’s representatives are abusing these powers to enrich themselves.
Dharmpal Lodh, chair of Mayadevi Rural Municipality-4, helped the illegal transfer of ownership of around 3.34 acres of government land. The land, located in the erstwhile Somari Village Development Committee, has been transferred to Gulam Haidar and Jainul Kujda. The plot had been rented for pisciculture before the transfer took place. Ward chair Lodh issued the location certificate in Kujada’s name on October 14, 2018.
The plot, which has been valued at Rs 240 million, falls on the Lumbini-Bhairahawa four-lane road. The deed issued to the “new owners” contains the signature of an officer. Lodh, however, said that he issued the recommendation after he was assured that the documents were genuine. “Then secretary Rinki Harijan told me that the documents were ok and I could certify them,” he said,
The piece of land in Siyari that an Indian national under the guise of the son of Belar Kahar grabbed illegally.
The 1970 land survey listed the land as public property. It was found that the district land registration office had written to the department of survey saying that the land was public property on December 25, 1994.
General public made easy targets
Parshuram Yadav
Rupandehi, which has been witnessing unprecedented urbanisation, has seen the price of land skyrocket in the last few years. Land, which used to utilised for agriculture, is now being converted into housing areas. As the stakes are high, organised gangs are targeting illiterate and vulnerable people to grab their land.
A plot of land belonging to Parshuram Yadav, who is mentally handicapped, was bought and sold on February 4, 2021 without his knowledge. Yadav, who lost his parents at an early age, lives with his sister. The land is to be transferred in the name of his nephew Balram Yadav after his death. But Jogindra Yadav and Chudamani Chaudhary have grabbed the land.
According to records at the district land registration office, Parshuram has sold the land for Rs 10 million. However, Parshuram is unaware that his land has been sold. His sister Bodhi Yadav says, “They targeted my brother as he is mentally handicapped.”
The location certificate issued by the rural municipality mentions fake neighbours. It also indicates that the land doesn’t have access to the road. Records also indicate that Yadav received Rs 10 million in his Mega Bank account. But the amount was never deposited in the bank.
Ward chief Ghisan Yadav says, “I issued the recommendation believing that the due process was followed. I hadn’t imagined this would lead to a controversy.” It has been seven months since Yadav and his sister filed a complaint at the rural municipality. They are now preparing to go to court.
Rajesh Tripathi has allegedly grabbed the land of another individual in Siyari-2 Mayadevi Rural Municipality. Around 167 acres of land located in the erstwhile Mainhiya Village Development Committee has been in the ownership of the family of Anirudra Prasad Dube for generations. However, when the family partition took place, a small plot of land was left unregistered. In 2004, the family got the plot registered. However, Tripathi has laid claim to the land. Dube filed a complaint at the district administration office on June 20, 2021. “But our claim wasn’t heard as Tirpathi is tilling the land,” he said.
A document signed by ward chief Ali Miya recommending an Indian national for Nepali citizenship.
Although Tripathi managed to record his ownership in the register of the land registration office, it hasn’t been certified. The plot has been frozen due to lack of evidence, said officer Narayan Gharti. However, no action has been taken against Tripathi, who claims, “The land is mine. I have proof of it.”
Siyari Rural Municipality’s judicial committee has received more than 61 cases related to land ownership in the last three years. Almost all of them have gone to court. Rural Municipality chief Ayodhya Tharu says people were engaging in fraud as the value of land had skyrocketed.
Industrial area also faces problems
A ban on protests has been in place at the under-construction Motipur Industrial Area since September 9, 2021, when police clashed with people who had occupied land in the area. While four died in the clashes, 70 were injured. Police inspector Sudarshan Panthi said a large group of people is involved in grabbing land in the areas. “They are bent on grabbing land even amid the ban on protests,” he said.
On May 11, 2016, the government registered around 1,357 acres of land on the banks of the Tinau river spread across Butwal Municipality, Tilottama Municipality, Siyari Rural Municipality, and Suddhodhan Rural Municipality under ‘Motipur Industrial Area Project’. All political parties backed the Rs 12 billion project until the detailed project report was prepared. But when the foundation stone to the project was laid on March 5, 2021, local political leaders expressed dissatisfaction.
Incidents of land grabbing them accelerated in the area. In September, around 400 temporary sheds came up in Butwal. ‘Ujir Singh Urban Settlement Development Council’ was set up overnight. People who were living in the area as squatters started retaliating against police who tried to clear the land.
Rishi Andaj, a resident of the area, says the whole issue has been politicised. He said the whole issue can be resolved quickly if the political parties want to do so. However, an old settlement of squatters spread over 167 acres of land remains a problem, he added.
Even court land not spared
Even plots of land belonging to the court, where people go to seek justice have been grabbed. According to officials, around 3 acres of land belonging to the Butwal High Court in Butwal-4 has been encroached upon.
Temporary sheds built inside the Motipur Industrial area to grab land.
According to government records, the land was registered in the name of the erstwhile Lumbini Zonal Office. After the restoration of democracy, the land was transferred to the District Administration Office. In a matter of years, 28 families built temporary shelters on the land. Some of them are businessmen, bureaucrats, and district-level leaders of various political parties.
The squatters’ commission in 1996 distributed land ownership certificates to eight households living in the area. Following complaints that land was distributed illegally, the decision was scrapped in 2013 by the Ministry of Land Reforms. However, more and more squatters started building settlements on the land. Suwarna Khanal, an official at the court, said the court couldn’t vacate the land as it only has the right to use the land, but doesn’t have ownership.
Meanwhile, Butwal Sub-metropolitan city has recommended that the squatters living on the land belonging to the court be issued ownership certificates. But as the land belongs to the court, it doesn’t fall under the ambit of the land ownership problem resolution commission. “We will not displace people based on rumours,” said Mayor Shiva Raj Subedi.
The Butwal Bench of the Tulsipur High Court has usage rights over this land. But temporary shelters have been built on it to lay claim to it.
Rupendehi District Court has been flooded with cases related to land fraud. But progress in the cases is slow. During the previous fiscal year, 1,406 cases related to land were filed at the court, but a verdict was passed only in 511. Court officer Anant Marasini says, “It is difficult to gather evidence and investigate cases related to land.”
Advocate Mahendra Pandey of Public Transparency Concern Group, a civil society organisation based in Rupandehi, says land-related fraud in the district became rife as political parties and bureaucrats started colluding. “There is a mob of political leaders and bureaucrats who grab land in areas that are urbanising at rapid rates. They go wherever the land prices go up.”
Balbahadur Acharya, former chief of the land reforms commission, Rupandehi, says it has become easier to grab both private and public land after the establishment of the commission. “At times you don’t even know that your own land for which you are paying taxes has already been transferred to someone else. You can’t trust anyone.”
