Land mafia on a free run in state?It is clearly an indication of land and liquor mafia's resurgence in Rajasthan,As many as 41 cases related to land "

Land mafia on a free run in state?

(Save this state to become sad place of violence,crime,corruption...etc..VT)

TNN, Mar 11, 2011, 01.59am IST

JAIPUR/AJMER: The manner in which the Kishangarh MLA's son was kidnapped and murdered by some contract killers has shocked both the residents and the politicians alike.

The fact that the politicians and their family members who used to enjoy immunity from criminals are being targeted fearlessly has exposed the tall claims of law and order in the state.

The abduction-cum-murder came close on the heels of a Congress leader's murder in Bikaner, which too was over land and liqour business rivalry. "It is clearly an indication of land and liquor mafia's resurgence in Rajasthan," a senior police officer told TOI. If not checked on time, the law and order situation will become dismal similar to that in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, he said.

Thirtyfive-year-old Ramkishan Siyag, president of Youth Congress's Bikaner parliamentary constituency was shot dead in broad daylight by his rivals in in Gangashahar police station area of Bikaner on February 24. The police claimed that Siyag, who himself had criminal cases lodged against him, was killed over land and liquor business disputes in the area.

In February 2009, the supari killing of BSP leader Virendra Nangli in Churu was also due to a supremacy fight in the Shekhawati region.

"As many as 41 cases related to land disputes and subsequent violence have been registered in Ajmer and adjoining Nagaur districts in the past two months. In many of them, land mafias were involved," said the officer.

In Ajmer, land-grabbing had taken a political colour when former Congress MLA Rajkumar Jaipal accused the UIT Ajmer of corruption and selling the land of Rs 50 crore illegally to the land mafia.

An 11-year-old boy was murdered in Ajmer's Pushkar town over land disputes recently. Spike in the rate of land with growing influence of Ajmer and Pushkar as tourist sites on the international map is being termed as one of the reasons for emergence of land mafia in the area. Locals told TOI that the farming land adjoining the highways and near the city is a sought-after investment. In last four months, three big real estates companies also stepped down in the district and are now constructing their buildings on Jaipur highway.

The residents said after kidnapping of another politician from the area Rajendra in 1995, Bhanwar Singh's abduction-cum-murder has shook the city's consciousness.

They said Rajendra Mirdha - son of prominent and senior Congress leader Ram Niwas Mirdha was kidnapped by terrorists, but involvement of local land mafia in Singh's murder is more serious.

Rajendra was abducted near his house, in a posh locality in Jaipur, in February 1995, by Khalistani terrorists, who held him hostage, demanding release of another terrorist, Devendra Pal Singh Bhulla from a Delhi jail. The Rajasthan police tracked down the location where Mirdha was being held hostage and raided a newly-constructed house on the outskirts of Jaipur. Mirdha was rescued.

"If politicians are not safe in the state, then leave alone the common man," said 35-year old Ramkishan Sharma, a resident of Adarsh Nagar locality in Ajmer.

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