Aizawl: The Assam Rifles on Friday filed an FIR against 50 people who illegally owned land inside its battalion headquarters here which was posing a problem in transferring the land back to the Mizoram government before the force relocated elsewhere, by having Land Settlement Certificates (LSCs).
Police said that Col Gaurav Chaturvedi, Commandant of the 26th battalion of the Assam Rifles, submitted the FIR at Aizawl police station on behalf of the Commander of the 23 sector of Assam Rifles Brig S P Rawat.
Commander of the 23 sector of Assam Rifles Brigadier S P Rawat said that the Assam Rifles was to relocate the battalion headquarters from its present position in the heart of the town to nearby Zokhawsang area, but the possession of the land by these persons was causing a problem.
At least 57 people were having LSCs inside the Assam Rifles land occupied by the force since 1890. Of the 57, seven people had surrendered their LSCs.
These persons were issued Land Settlement Certificates (LSC) by Land Revenue and Settlement department officials mainly between 1989 and 1998.
The Assam Rifles wanted them to surrender the land to it so that it could hand it back to the state government without any encumbrances, before the relocation to Zokhawsang, Brig Rawat said.
He said that the Assam Rifles sought legal action against the persons and the officials of the Land Revenue and Settlement department, responsible for issuing the LSCs.
So far seven persons have surrendered possession of their land to the Assam Rifles, he said. He, however, warned that the shifting of the battalion headquarters would not be completed unless the land ownership issue was settled.
Earlier in 2002, the state assembly had legislated The Mizoram (Restriction on use of transferred land) Act to ensure that the land being vacated by the Assam Rifles should be used only for public purposes.
Brig Rawat had earlier said that the Assam Rifles battalion headquarters was being shifted from the centre of Aizawl city to nearby Zokhawsang area and the process might be completed by May next year.
He, however, said that the shifting of the battalion headquarters would not be completed unless the land ownership issue was being settled.(PTI)