The District Administration Office (DAO) has taken action against the land mafias, ward chairmen and employees who were involved in selling the lands of two Dalit communities in Mirchaiya Municipality, Siraha.

Six kathhas of land in Phulbariya, Mirchaiya-7, and 7 kathhas and 10 dhur of land in Rampura, Mirchaiya-9, were sold after the ward chairmen made recommendations citing that there were no settlements and roads on those land plots.

Documents showed that the land housing 16 Chamar households in Mirchiya-9 was sold by Bharat Yadav to Ram Parikshyan Yadav of Kalyanpur in Mirchaiya-9 on May 31, 2018. Similarly, Rameshwor Sah, Deepnarayan Sah, Satyanarayan Sah and Shrawan Kumar Sah sold the land in Mirchiya-7 to Suresh Kumar Mahato of Raghunathpur in Dhanusha on November 25, 2018.

Investigation into the case started after Ram Mahara of Mirchaiya-7 went to the DAO seeking justice. After Mahara’s complaint was registered, the DAO filed a case with the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) against two ward chairmen—Ram Kumar Yadav of ward 7 and Mohan Pokharel of ward 9—land mafia and employees of land revenue and survey offices.

Ghuran Ram, 65, a local resident, said, “Mochi (Chamar) people have been living here for the last 90 years. We have no place to go now.”

Rudra Prasad Pandit, the chief district officer, said, “The transactions between the buyers and the sellers took place as per the recommendations of the ward offices.” The DAO said that they have pressed legal charges against the accused government employees and ward chairmen.