Thiruvananthapuram: BJP in the state Sunday demanded that an audit be conducted to determine possession of land by plantation owners in the state in the wake of allegations that they were illegally occupying several lakhs of acres.
In a complaint lodged with the Office of the Accountants General, BJP state president Kumannom Rajasekharan demanded an audit of land occupied by plantation owners in the state. The complaint was given to Amar Patnaik, Principal Accountant General (Economic and Revenue), Rajasekharan said in a statement here.
As per a report submitted by IAS officer M G Rajamanikayam on lands occupied by plantations, it was found that nearly five lakh acres were held by plantations illegally, Rajasekharan said. However, he claimed that according to unofficial estimates plantations were illegally holding over 10 lakh acres of land. Under these circumstances, land auditing was necessary to know the true facts, Rajasekharan said.
The BJP leader said Rajamanikayam had also recommended a probe by CBI and Enforcement Department and government should take a decision on this at the earliest. He said the Accountant General assured him that necessary steps would be taken for the auditing.