Taking advantage of the pandemic, land mafia has grabbed state land and a patch of graveyard in BrentyBatpora village along the Achabal-Dialgam road in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
The land is surrounded by a number of mighty Chinar trees.
“It has a scared importance for the locals. However, in this pandemic certain criminal elements and land mafia have encroached it,” they said.
The locals said that the land was being dug to pave way for the construction of a commercial complex.
“These encroachers are not the natives and people of our village are resisting the move,” Muhammad Yaqoob, an elderly resident said. He said that many revered Sufi saints were buried in the same graveyard. The locals also accused the authorities of the Revenue department of being in league with the land mafia in the construction of this commercial complex.
“The district administration should intervene to stop the encroachment of the land,” said Imran, a local.