Kakatpur: A show-cause notice has been served to Kakatpur MLA Surendra Sethi in connection with being allegedly involved in encroachment of government land here.
The move follows a petition filed by Laxmidhar Biswal, a resident of Olihan village here, alleging that Sethi has encroached upon a piece of grazing land at Silari village under Astarang block. Apart from submitting a petition with Puri collector Jyotiprakash Das, Biswal has also sent copies of the plea to the Governor, Chief Election Commissioner and the Chief Secretary of the state.
Taking note, the Puri Collector had directed Astarang tehsildar, Arun Kumar Swain, to initiate a detailed investigation into the allegation. After receiving the report from the local revenue inspector (RI), the Astarang tehsildar registered an encroachment case besides issuing a show-cause notice to Sethi.
When asked, the Kakatpur MLA however denied commenting on the issue saying that he was yet to receive any such notice.
Meanwhile, speculations were doing the rounds that it was a conspiracy to malign the ruling-party MLA ahead of the elections.