Ahmedabad: 265 cases against land sharks

Ahmedabad, Mar 3: The escalating land prices here have attracted attention of land grabbers as the state government has received complaints against 265 ''land sharks'' from Ahmedabad district in 2010, Gujarat Revenue Minister Anandiben Patel told the state assembly today.

The Minister in a written reply to a question in the state assembly stated that 265 complaints against land sharks were received last year.

"Out of the 265 complaints received, cases have been registered against 35 land grabbers and investigations are underway," Patel said.

Majority of them have been booked under section 420 of IPC, which deals with fraudulent transactions.

The land prices in Ahmedabad, which is touted to be third fastest growing city in the world as per a survey, have risen manifold especially at Sanand near here, the home to Tata Nano.

The farmers in and around Sanand taluka are being coerced by the land grabbers to sell off their fertile lands amid rise in demand for land from industrial groups, sources said.

PTI