According to waqf board officials, Pune has nearly 2800 Waqf properties on 3,724.55 hectares of land located in prime areas like Deccan Gymkhana, Kondhwa, Baner and Aundh estimated to be over Rs 30,000 crores which have been illegally grabbed and under litigation . According to the waqf board officials at Pune, the issue related to a 50 acre waqf land belonging to a Mughal era mosque in Kondhwa Budruk, 80 acres spread from More Vidyalaya to the ILS Law College in Deccan including waqf land parcels Karve , 23 acres of waqf land Aundh and Pimple Nilakh are also being dealt with utmost priority.
Waqf activists have demanded action against the Waqf Board members who served between 2011 to 2013 wherein they have been accused of issuing fraudulent No Objection Certificates (NOC)’s to land sharks aiding them in selling off waqf properties.
In Oct last year, the Beed Police had arrested additional collector N R Shelke for selling over 1000 acres of Waqf Land. An FIR has been registered against 15 persons, including officials of the revenue department, for illegal sale of 409 acres and five guntha (each guntha being equal to 0.025 acre) of Waqf land in Maharashtra’s Beed district by creating forged documents as well as government stamp and seals, police said on Wednesday. In December 2021, an FIR under IPC sections 409, 420, 467, 468, 471, 34 and section 52 (A) of Waqf Rules at Shivajinagar police station Beed based on the complaint of the district Waqf officer on December 29. According to the FIR, the accused prepared forged documents, stamps and seals of the government officers and illegally sold 409 acre and 5 guntha land from a parcel of 796 acres and 37. The prominent accused include the then deputy collector, revenue clerks , talathis, tehsildars and officials of revenue and land records department. Currently, the waqf land scam of Magdoom Bibi Waqf Trust Panel where a bogus NOC was issued is under investigation by police authorities.
Dr Mirza said “There is a need to investigate the deep rooted nexus between waqf land criminals and government officials and taking the ramifications of the scams in the state, the SIT is the best option to bring an end to this menace of corruption and forgery,” he said.
