PULGAON, July 20: Local police have booked two activists of Bhoodan Yadnya Mandal (BYM) who allegedly duped poor farmers to the tune of thousands of rupees by promising to register plots of land in their names. Late Acharya Vinoba Bhave had launched the Bhoodan movement with a view to donating a plot of land to every landless farmer in the country. Hundreds of landless farmers got plots of land for cultivation under the movement.

A gang of conmen took advantage of the concept of the Bhoodan movement to dupe ignorant villagers. As per a complaint lodged by Laxman Thool, resident of Talani, two BYM activists including his relative Rajesh Ambadas Avdhare who had come to his village, told him that they could make lands available for poor farmers.

The farmers and farm workers believed the activists. They paid the collected a registration fee of Rs 1,500 from each of the labourers after promising to give them plots for cultivation. Nearly Rs 22,000 was collected from the villagers many of whom sold every thing they owned to raise the amount. The activists have not returned to the village to date.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.