Nainital: In a tale perhaps too good for real life, a man from Uttarakhand found himself to be in a strange predicament - one that has continued for several decades and recently came to light. Harikrishna Budhlakoti, a resident of Kamola village in Uttarakhand's Haldwani, found himself dead on official papers all of a sudden back in 1980, while allegedly losing his land to the land mafia later on in 2011. The matter was recently presented by Budhlakoti before Kumaon Divisional Commissioner Deepak Rawat, who has called for an inquiry.
"I live in Kamola village, but also own my ancestral land in the hills - in Nainital's Pangot village. Some land mafias showed me to be dead on official documents back in 1980, and registered the land under their own name in 2011. People of significant stature are involved in this, and they have purchased the land," Budhlakoti told ETV Bharat.
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"The people include DFO soil Umesh Tiwari and others like him. I have filed a case in the Kosya Kutauli tehsil (in Nainital), but nobody is ready to listen to me as the people I am up against are quite influential. My death certificate has been made in connivance between Panchayat and tehsil officials," he also added. Budhlakoti measured the land in question to be three 'nali' (6,480 sq. feet).
Speaking about the issue, Rawat said, "The complainant has claimed that a fake death certificate was produced in his name back in 2011. Based on this, the land was mutated under the name of certain persons, and then it was further sold to some other person.
I have started to search for the reports: Both the fake death certificate, as well as the one before the mutation took place - one which is supposed to be provided by the concerned Tehsil, and whether any departmental action has yet been taken against the person who issued the said report."
"If no action has been taken, then steps will be taken to initiate it. He has sought compensation from the court, and also sought to be heard. I have forwarded the requests to concerned officials. If fake reports have been issued, departmental inquiry should definitely be started," he added.
