Punjab govt. claims to have taken back 9,053 acres of encroached land

Land was taken back from ‘influential’ encroachers, including sons of an MP and a former Minister.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday said since May 1, the State government had so far taken possession of 9,053 acres of land which was illegally encroached by people across the State, including influential people.

Mr. Mann said that in the ongoing drive, the government on July 29, took possession of 2,828 acres of illegally encroached land worth ₹350 crore in Majri block of Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar district from 15 ‘influential’ encroachers, including sons of newly elected Member of Parliament from Sangrur Simranjit Singh Mann and former Minister Gurpreet Singh Kangar of the Congress.

Mr. Mann said the encroached land in village Chotti Badi Naggal (Majri) was prime land and had been illegally occupied by several influential officers and politicians for long. He said that the illegal occupants included Imaanjit Singh Mann, Mr. Simranjit Singh Mann’s son, who had encroached 125 acres, and Mr. Kangar’s son Harmandeep Singh Dhaliwal who had encroached five acres. Similarly, the daughter and son-in-law of the Sangrur MP had also occupied 28 acres illegally among others, he said.

The Chief Minister said that from May 1, the State government had so far taken possession of 9,053 acres of prime land which had been illegally encroached, which he said was one of the Aam Aadmi Party’s promises during the 2022 Assembly election campaign.