Wakf board cracks the whip on dargah land 'encroachers'

Hyderabad: The State Wakf Board has cracked the whip against the alleged plotting of a prime land parcel in Attapur endowed to Dargah Hazrat Shah Mir Mahmood, popularly known as Mir Mahmood Pahadi.Sources from the board said that a private company has been transacting plots on around 11 acres of the over 400 acre wakf endowed property. "The land parcel in question is coming in survey number 3351. A private company is plotting the land parcel. Our chief executive officer Md Asadullah has given us instructions to stop the activity from continuing," said a source from the board. The sources said that it has sent letters to the Ranga Reddy district administration requesting it to take steps to protect the land parcel.“We have sent letters to the collector, revenue divisional officer and others to look into the matter. Tackling this problem requires an inter-departmental effort. In fact, we are also going to write to the concerned subregistrar's office not to register the land parcel in anybody's name as the land cannot be mutated," the source said. However, it appears that clearing the land parcel of these private players will not be easy. As it turns out, sources said that the land par cel is being claimed by one Mohammed Riyazuddin and Madhusudan Reddy P. The duo have contested the board's stand by citing a court order which they claim is in their favour. But despite several attempts to reach Riyazuddin, he remained unavailable for comment. Speaking on the issue, deputy chief minister Mahmood Ali said that parties claiming wakf lands is not new even as he said that the claim by the duo will be looked into."Claiming lands which have been declared wakf is not a new issue as the board's functioning for many years has not been properly streamlined. Many litigants have gone to various courts and obtained orders. Despite this, we will thoroughly investigate the matter. I have already issued instructions to the CEO of the board to seek assistance from the police if required. We will extend all our support to the board," he said.