TURA: Illegal sale of tribal land to non-tribals is allegedly taking place in Tikrikilla region of South West Garo Hills where many local land owners using Nokmas and leaders of haat committees to pose as witnesses have sold off their lands for hefty sums of money.
According to the local unit of the A’chik Youth Council (AYC) numerous surveys conducted by it have found that many tribal lands have been secretly transferred to non tribals without the knowledge and consent of the A’king Nokma, which is in violation of the Meghalaya Transfer of Land (Regulations) Act 1971 and Meghalaya Act 1 of 1972.
“In one case, we have recovered documents of land deeds made between the tribal transferer and non-tribal transferee in the year 2014 which were signed as witness by a Nokma and a president of the Haat Committee. This is evident that the illegal transfer of land is being approved.