Revenue department cancels title deed to 1.05 acres of encroached land Chokramudi

The Revenue department has cancelled the title deed of 1.05 acres to encroached land at Chokramudi in Bison Valley village, Idukki.

According to officials, the cancelled title deed (survey number 274/1) belonged to Marykutty Varghese, a resident of Chokramudi.

An order issued by Devikulam Subcollector V.M. Jayakrishnan on Thursday said that the documents had been forged to encroach on government land. It directed the Devikulam land assignment tehsildar to resume the land and register criminal cases against the encroachers.

According to the department officials, a resort named “Winter Garden” was constructed on the encroached land. A special investigation team (SIT) headed by K. Sethuraman, former Director, Police Training College, and an SIT headed by the Devikulam Subcollector found that the resort was built on government land.

In the order, the Subcollector stated that the survey number and the land did not match and that the given survey number belonged to another plot. “A detailed verification revealed that the revenue office did not have the title deed application, title deed register, or title deed mahasar of the plot. During the hearing process, the title deed owner failed to submit proper documents. The verification of documents have revealed that the landowner illegally encroached on the government land and constructed a resort on it,” said the order.

According to the officials, this was the fifth title deed that got cancelled in Chokramudi after the probe. In March this year, the department had cancelled four title deeds and reclaimed 13.79 acres of encroached land on the Chokramudi hills.

The land grab and illegal constructions on the hills came to light in August 2024.