Kolkata, Feb. 9 -- Mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Firhad Hakim has ordered a departmental enquiry into an alleged fraud within the civic body's Assessment department concerning a plot with huge property tax dues on Diamond Harbour Road.
Sources said a complainant, a resident of Diamond Harbour Road (DH), Behala, had called Hakim recently and alleged that a mother plot at 58A Diamond Harbour Road has property tax dues going upto lakhs of rupees. However, the assessment department allegedly "encroached" onto a plot within the mother plot and got a building plan passed for real estate construction there. Promoting work is afoot there now. The entire thing was done based on unregistered documents. There is no deed but everything was done on just a stamp paper, it was alleged.
The Mayor, visibly enraged, is learnt to have questioned the officials on how can a portion be carved out from the mother plot which has huge tax dues and be separately mutated by showing the main plot unassessed? "This cannot happen without money exchanging hands at a higher level," Hakim said. He told the officials that this could not have been possible without someone in the assessment department accepting bribes for doing the same. "There is a 100 per cent chance of a money transaction taking place for doing the same.Such deeds bring a bad name to KMC," he said.
The Municipal Commissioner was directed to initiate a departmental enquiry and send it to the vigilance team who would visit the spot for inspection. "If it turns out to be true, take action against the vigilance officer concerned. Stop his pension if the person is found to have now retired," he ordered.
Hakim said KMC will initiate legal action if the matter has a shred of truth in it. He said: "This is a serious issue.We will deal with it in an appropriate manner."
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.