Not the right match: Fake memorial on disputed land

NEW DELHI, FEB 26: After the pomp and pageantry, now comes the dispute. Even the area where Haryana Vikas Party's Samalkha MLA and quarry...

NEW DELHI, FEB 26: After the pomp and pageantry, now comes the dispute. Even the area where Haryana Vikas Party8217;s Samalkha MLA and quarry king Kartar Singh Bhadana built a replica of Victoria Memorial to host the wedding of his two daughters, is disputed. So is the spot in Sarai Khwaja where his office stands. And just two kilometres away, in Lakkarpur, there was a shootout on May 12, 1998, involving Bhadana8217;s men and the reason 8212; a property dispute.

The police say that there is an ongoing dispute between the Eros group of companies 8212; which owns Eros cinema and Park Royal hotel 8212; and Bhadana over the properties in Sarai Khwaja and Lakkarpur.

Deputy Commissioner of Faridabad B K Panigrahi said, 8220;The land where Bhadana has built his office and where he built the canvas Victoria Memorial in Sarai Khwaja village is disputed property. The Lakkarpur village land is also disputed. I cannot say anything more.8221;

The Eros group of companies has filed a complaint with the Faridabad police, alleging8220;non-registration of criminal case against Kartar Singh Bhadana, sitting MLA of Haryana Vikas Party by police authorities.8221;

8220;The land where Bhadana built the memorial belongs to Ajay Enterprises of the Eros group of companies,8221; says Raman Sood of the Eros group. According to him, K M Stones and Co, owned by the MLA, had taken the land on contract for the period from January 6, 1988 to March 31, 1992, under the provision of Punjab Minor Minerals Concession Rules, 1964. However, Bhadana has not evacuated the property ever since, he says.

When contacted by The Indian Express, Bhadana laughed it away. 8220;The land where I have my office and where I built the Memorial in Sarai Khwaja village belongs to me. Actually, the land belongs to my ancestors. The Eros group of companies is only interested in colonising land that belonged to our ancestors. All they want to do is make a fast buck.8221;

Bhadana said he had been fighting the Eros group of companies since 8220;the Bhajan Lal days.8221; 8220;Even shootoutshave not changed the outcome of the continuing tussle. I don8217;t know what will,8221; says Bhadana.

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A month before the shootout, a mob of about 30 persons had attacked five employees of Eros group of companies, which also owns Charmwood village in Lakkarpur.

According to the First Information Report lodged by the Eros group of companies, the MLA illegally dumped silica sand in the land belonging to the company, located in Lakkarpur village on the Surajkund-Badkal road. After dumping the sand, he claimed the land belonged to him, the FIR says. When labourers hired by the company were removing the silica, armed men attacked them. The police had arrested 16 people who were later released on bail.