Investigation ordered into land approvals by Khiroalkar

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

After the arrest of Resident Deputy Collector Vinod Khiroalkar in a bribery case, all land conversion decisions made during his tenure have come under suspicion. Acting on Lokmat Time’s May 28 report, district collector Deelip Swami has set up a two-member probe committee led by Additional Collector Sambhaji Adkune.

Khiroalkar allegedly expedited approvals to convert government grazing lands from Class-2 to Class-1, with 88 such cases surfacing so far. He and Revenue Assistant Deepak Tribhuvan were arrested on May 27 for accepting Rs 23 lakh in bribes and demanding Rs 18 lakh more, before being caught with Rs 5 lakh by the Anti-Corruption Bureau.

Dubious conversions after landholder's death

One case involves the posthumous conversion of grazing land in Maliwada (Survey No. 191), where the sale deed was processed in Sillod bypassing proper jurisdiction. Advocate Prashant Nagargoje has served a legal notice, alleging Khiroalkar acted in collusion with a GPA holder and violated norms without verifying facts on ground.