Absconding Addl. Tahsildar sends leave requests

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

17 days after a bribery case was registered against Additional Tahsildar Nitin Garje, he remains untraceable. Despite being on the run, Garje has submitted two leave applications through intermediaries neither of which have been approved.

In-charge Resident Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) Sangita Rathod confirmed that Garje’s leave requests carried differing residential addresses, further raising suspicions about his intent and whereabouts.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) continues to search for Garje. Meanwhile, a detailed report involving him and Resident SDO Vinod Khirolkar also allegedly linked to the bribery scandal has been submitted to the state government. Action is awaited based on directives from higher authorities.

In a related fallout, over 100 compensation files for Bidkin farmers remain stalled for nearly four months. These were under Khirolkar’s purview.

Why did Khirolkar hold back 101 cases?

After farmers in Bidkin’s Banni Tanda and Bangal Tanda areas did not receive 20% of the land acquisition compensation for Class-2 land, they staged protests that shut down large industries in the DMIC region. This issue had escalated to the state ministry.

Farmers halted work on infrastructure projects of companies such as Endurance, IBS, Cosmo, Pragati Constructions, Swastik, Ather, JSW, and Toyota to press for their dues. To regularize unauthorized purchase records of Class-2 non-agricultural land, the government approved 32 out of 143 cases on January 30. However, 101 cases remained pending, reportedly due to Khirolkar’s deliberate delays, causing speculation of corrupt motives.