TV Journalist Among Fourteen Arrested in Rs 1,000 Crore Land Grab Case

Fourteen individuals, including journalist Avneesh Dixit, have been detained in connection with the illegal acquisition of government land valued at over Rs 1,000 crore. FIRs have been filed under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. Efforts to arrest other suspects continue.

Fourteen people, including a TV journalist, have been arrested on charges of grabbing government land with a market value exceeding Rs 1,000 crore, police reported on Monday.

Journalist Avneesh Dixit was apprehended along with others on Sunday, following complaints from a revenue officer and Samuel Gurudev Singh, the individual to whom the land had been leased, authorities said.

According to Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Harish Chandra, Dixit has been detained, and FIRs have been registered at the Kotwali police station. Efforts are ongoing to arrest additional suspects.

The FIRs list various serious charges, including criminal conspiracy, rioting, extortion, and criminal intimidation under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.

Dixit is scheduled to be presented in court today, police confirmed. District Magistrate Rakesh Kumar Singh explained that action was taken after receiving information that Dixit and over three dozen others had allegedly occupied around 7,500 square meters of government land in a high-value area, estimated at over Rs 1,000 crore.

Singh noted that Dixit and his accomplices allegedly broke locks and secured the premises with their own. A revenue team headed by the additional DM confirmed that the land, designated as state land (Nazul), had an expired lease initially granted in 1884 and renewed for 25 years.

(With inputs from agencies.)