Cuttack: A former MLA has allegedly encroached upon a piece of grazing land under Astarang tehsil in Puri district.
Besides, the former legislator also constructed a building on a piece of agricultural land without any land mutation.
Opposing the land encroachment, some locals have recently lodged a complaint with the Vigilance department and sought action against the former MLA.
In their complaint, the locals blamed a former tehsildar of Astarang for the illegal acquisition of grazing land. The complainants claimed that the former tehsildar had helped the former MLA to acquire the land illegally.
The locals claimed that they had earlier lodged a complaint with regard to the land encroachment in Astarang tehsil office but no action was taken against the encroacher.
Subsequently, the locals approached the Orissa High Court seeking its intervention into the issue. Taking up the case, the HC had directed Puri district collector to look into the land encroachment allegation and take action against the encroacher.
However, the tehsil authorities sent a fake report to the administration that they have demolished illegal construction on the grazing land.
When contacted, Vigilance director Debashish Panigrahi said they will look into the allegation.