PUNE: Four persons from Bhukum village in Mulshi taluka staged a three-day hunger strike in front of the district collectorate demanding a detailed probe into an alleged land scam worth over Rs 1.16 crore in their area.They alleged that a builder had sold 29 gunthas of land that did not exist on paper to different people between 2012 and 2014. Innocent land owners were allegedly fleeced in fraudulent deals, wherein the government collected nearly Rs 50 lakh as registration fee.The land owners issued mutation extracts for the non-existent land demanded a probe into the scam by the revenue department officials. They pointed out that the total area of the plot was 146 gunthas and the sale deed was for 175 gunthas.“This is a Mulshi pattern land scam — a farmer sells land to a developer, who sells it to different citizens,” said one of the land owners, Abhijit More, who staged the hunger strike with three others — DS Deshmukh, Mandar Deherkar and Jayant Gandhe — demanding a detailed probe into the alleged scam.More said the former Mulshi tehsildar was asked to probe into the matter, but the official did not come out with any report. He said a new tehsildar had come, but the report was yet to be table.An FIR has been registered against the developer. But police are waiting for the tehsildar’s report, pending for the past eight months, for further action. The land owners stressed that the sub-divisional officer (SDO) should order a departmental inquiry against the revenue officials in office between 2012 and 2014, and check for their involvement in the land scam and fraudulent mutation entries.“We submitted 10 written complaints to the revenue department. We agitated twice before the hunger strike for the past three days, but there has been no written assurance,” he said.A revenue official told TOI that the inquiry was on and the final hearing was on February 22.A senior officer from the district administration said the land owners should opt for legal recourse and approach the civil court if the inquiry detected a scam.

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