Ex Surat Collector Ayush Oak faces corruption charges  in Rs 2K Crore Land Scam

Surat, Gujarat : Darshan Naik, a social activist and whistleblower in the astounding Rs 2,000 crore government land fraud in Surat, has urged that a charge be filed against suspended former Surat district collector Ayush Oak under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

Naik has written to the director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Gujarat, Shamsheer Singh, requesting a probe into Ayush Oak, the former district collector of Surat, under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. According to Naik, Oak was suspended by the Gujarat government following a sensational expose on government land covering 2.17 lakh square meters in Dumas and valued at Rs. 2000 crore.

According to Naik, Oak and his broker associates in the Surat district collector’s office plotted to ensure the safe transfer of government land to a private entity by accepting large bribes.

From 1948 to 1949, the area at Survey Number 311/3 was designated as government waste land. “However, former Surat district collector Ayush Oak fraudulently registered Krishnamukhlal Bhagwanda as a tenant on government waste property.

In 2015, the Provincial Officer discovered that the land belonged to the Government, and in 2015, the City Province issued a report regarding this land, which stated that the land belongs to the Government and that the names of the tenants were incorrectly entered. Tenant names cannot be entered on government land under the terms of the Gujarat Tenancy Act or any other laws.

However, two days before his transfer, the then-Surat Collector Ayush Oak incorrectly entered the names of tenants on the precious government land. Ayush Oak’s suspension by the Gujarat Government demonstrates that he received a large sum as a kickback in exchange for transferring government land to a private individual.

“The current market value of the land bearing survey number 311/3 is estimated to be Rs 2000 crores, hence we are confident that Collector Ayush Oak accepted crores of rupees in bribes to enter the names of the tenants. Also, according to Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the suspended Collector Ayush Oak favored him in entering the names of tenants in government land, which the Gujarat Government has considered as prima facie. “A complaint must be filed against Ayush Oak, the tenant, and the brokers, and an investigation must be conducted,” Naik stated.