By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, November 16, 2015 : The Odisha government belatedly has initiated steps to reclaim land illegally taken over by former chief secretary of The state, Rabi Narayan Das.

The move by the state government follows an order passed by the Land Records and Settlement Commissioner Ashok Kumar Tarenia to repossess the land and bring it back to the government’s land bank.

Das has been accused of illegally managing ownership of 70 acre land in the Salijanga Mouza of Jajpur Danagadi Tehsil. The Jajpur collector had urged the Land Records and Settlement commissioner to reinstate the status of the land to forest land.

Notably, the said piece of land was under Sukinda estate and its status was categorized as forest land since 1927-28. In e1952-53, even after Sukinda Estate was merged with the State government, the status of the land remained unchanged.

However, the authorities alleged that the land was illegally mutated to the name of Das. Notices have been served to the people who bought the land from Das and his family members.

Like Das, several top bureaucrats are alleged to have grabbed the government land by abusing their power.