THE district administration swung into strict action immediately following Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav’s visit to Sagar on Wednesday. Taking a very serious view of the toxic liquor incident in the Banda area, the Chief Minister had ordered the strictest possible action against the culprits. In compliance with this, the administration demolished the illegal structures belonging to the main accused in Banda using bulldozers, on Thursday. A joint team comprising the Revenue Department, police force, and the Banda Municipal Council carried out the demolition drive with heavy police deployment. Notably, administrative inquiries and revenue records revealed that the accused had encroached upon Government land (specifically land designated for cremation grounds and rocky terrain). Manish alias Yashwant (son of Komal Singh Lodhi, resident of Ward-12, Banda) had encroached upon cremation ground land and constructed a single-storey permanent structure,used as an illegal warehouse, on land designated for a Government cremation ground. Additionally, another single-storey permanent structure had been built for nonresidential storage purposes.

 

Similarly, encroachment was found on land classified as rocky terrain; illegal possession had been established in the area. Another accused, Chandrabhan Singh alias Chandu (son of Dwarka Singh Rajput, resident of Tatarwara, Tehsil Shahgarh), had constructed an illegal single-storey permanent residential house on Government land. Likewise, a permanent house and a gated courtyard encroached upon by the accused Ashish (son of Ramprasad Sahu, resident of Ward-11, Banda) were identified and razed to the ground. According to the administrative inquiry, the accused had long held possession of cremation ground and Government land, operating their liquor business from these illegal premises. Prior to the action, the administration had pasted a 24-hour notice. Upon receiving no explanation, the demolition operation was carried out in the presence of the SDM, Tehsildar, and police officials. A large contingent of police, revenue department, and municipal council personnel was present during the operation, including Banda SDM Sanjay Jain, SDOP Rohit Lakhera, and Tehsildar Mohit Jain. In accordance with the directives of Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav, the district administration has clarified that this campaign against illegal liquor mafias and criminals will continue with the same level of strictness.