14 Including TV Journalist Arrested for Rs 1000 Cr Worth Illegal Land Grab in Kanpur

Kanpur: Fourteen persons including a TV journalist allegedly involved in grabbing government land worth over Rs 1,000 crore were arrested in Kanpur of Uttar Pradesh.

These persons including journalist Avneesh Dixit were arrested on Sunday.

The FIRs have been lodged against the accused under sections 61(2) (criminal conspiracy), 74 (criminal force to any woman intending to outrage modesty), 127(2) (wrongful confinement), 191(2) (rioting), 308(5) (extortion), 310(2) (dacoity), 324(4) (mischief causes loss), 329(4) (house trespass), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 352 (intentional insult) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and under the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.

Dixit will be produced in court during the day, according to police.

Talking to PTI over the phone, District Magistrate (DM) Rakesh Kumar Singh said action was taken after information was received that Dixit along with three dozen others had allegedly trespassed about 7,500 square metres of government land in the posh Civil Lines pocket which has a market value of over Rs 1,000 crore.

Dixit and his men allegedly broke the locks and put their own on the rooms, the collector said.

A revenue team of the administration found that the land was state land.

The said land was given on lease in 1884 for a period of 99 years. The lease was renewed for 25 years and that period has ended.