More Alibag farmhouses confiscated

Replying to a question, the official said, necessary legal procedure, including serving notices under the Maharashtra Private Forest Acquisition Act and Forest Conservation Act was followed before initiating the stringent action.

The action on Wednesday was the second major initiative by the forest department against illegal and unauthorised constructions on the finally acquired forest land. On September 30, a high-level team of forest officials had seized 17 farm houses belonging to leading film personalities Salim Khan, Helen, Salman Khan and a leading sportsperson. All these farmhouses were developed by the Vrindavan Horticulture Cooperative Society, which subsequently challenged Das’ action in the High Court. While the HC had set aside orders passed by Das, the Supreme Court later set aside the High Court order.

Significantly, though the multi-crore scandal was exposed by Das, the Sena-BJP government was yet to take disciplinary action against the erring employees of the forest department. Prima facie, it was clear that Das’ predecessors were allegedly responsible for the Rs 1,500 crore land scandal, but the forest department was yet to fix responsibility. “Finally, acquired forest land worth Rs 1,500 crore has been sold to leading builders from Mumbai. This cannot happen unless the local forest officials are in connivance with the builders. But no action has been taken against the officials despite the fact that all records are already available with the government,” the official said. Das himself has submitted a comprehensive report to the government on the scandal. Top officials in the forest department were shielding their guilty colleagues, said the official.