– Mohammed Atherulla Shariff
Bijapur, June 25: The district Wakf Board was able to recover its property from illegal occupation. Three sheds were illegally constructed on a prime Waqf land in the Kabraji Bazar area of the city long ago. By systematically demolishing them under the Karnataka Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1974, the Wakf Board has achieved extraordinary success in acquiring its land, reported Urdu Daily Salar.
According to the Vijayapura Zilla Wakf Advisory Committee, the said sheds were established on 248 sq. ft. of land belonging to Dargah Hazrat Sandal Malik that comes under city survey No. 1591.
It didn’t take place in quick succession rather a long-drawn legal battle was fought against the occupants who were Muslims and won, said the Wakf officer. Demolition was again a tough task. However, the Wakf committee members with strong police arrangements could accomplish the task, he said. This is the second Wakf land in Vijayapura under the said act, which has been restored to the Wakf Board in recent times.
Likewise, the officer said that all illegal encroachments and constructions on the cemetery land in Sindagi town of Vijayapura district will be demolished shortly.
Appreciating the action of the Wakf Board, some local Muslim leaders however said that the free grants of Wakf in the last ten to fifteen years in the city and the district office have also started smelling of corruption. Very few people have utilized these grants properly. Most of the trustees have siphoned off these grants, they alleged and demanded appropriate action against this too.
