PUNE, June 25: The State Forest officials here are apprehensive about ``vested interests'' thwarting investigations in the alleged land scam involving over 22,000 hectares of forest land in neighbouring Raigad district.

In at least two cases, Deputy Conservator of Forests (DyCF) at Alibaug, R K Das, recovered about 1,900 hectares land and a few structures at Karambeli near Panvel and at Kalamb village near Karjat that were supposed to have been illegally transferred, last month.

Acquired by the State Forest Department in early 1980s under the Maharashtra Private Forests (Acquisition) Act (MPFA), these lands have changed hands several times in the past one-and-a-half decades, owing to forest and revenue officials acting in connivance with land speculators it is alleged.

Recent political developments in Navi Mumbai, leading to the Chief Minister announcing stringent measures against quarries in the region, helped the land speculators to politicise the Forest Department drive against land grabbers, well-placed Forest Department sources said.

A senior forest official, speaking to the The Indian Express on condition of anonymity, indicated that the land developers' lobby, active in Panvel and adjacent parts of Western Ghats, was out to thwart investigations in both the cases as well as in at least two other cases of similar nature.

Officials suspect a few more instances of alleged land grabbing in Panvel, Karjat areas.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.