28 shops constructed in two-storey building
Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar, Feb 9: Going ahead with anti-encroachment drive, the administration today took possession of a commercial building constructed on the State land in Srigufwara area of Anantnag district belonging to a Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) leader.
An official said that BJP leader Sofi Yousuf had encroached 25 marlas of State land at Srigufwara, Bijbehara, by raising two commercial buildings adjacent to each other.
“The two-storey commercial buildings comprise 28 shops. There is a coaching centre and a restaurant in the complex,” he said.
An official said that for the last many days Tehsildar was trying to seal the building but was facing immense pressure allegedly from the BJP leader. However, today the officer called the Block Development Officer (BDO) to the Tehsil office and asked him to take possession of the building but he wanted the handover to take place on the spot.
However, later, the BDO agreed to take possession without visiting the spot. The shopkeepers were also called to the Tehsil office and asked to pay the rent to the Rural Development Department in future.
An official said that in an anti-encroachment drive, today Tehsildar Srigufwara handed over the shopping complex built on State land by ex-MLA and vice president BJP Sofi Yousuf and his brother Mushtaq Ahmad Sofi at Main Market Srigufwara to the RDD. “However, no shop has been sealed, keeping in view the livelihood of shopkeeper families who are running their shops in the said complex,” he added.
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