Over 500 land brokers arrested in 24 hours in Assam for harassing common people

CM Sarma said the state government has identified at least 700 such brokers and police have been instructed to act against such persons

Police in Assam have arrested 520 land brokers in the past 24 hours following the BJP-led government's recent announcement of a "zero-tolerance" policy against such persons allegedly harassing common people during registration and mutation of land.

"The arrests are part of my government's drive to end dalalraj. This notorious practice of brokers in revenue offices harassing commoners must end. Our fight against nefarious activities will go on relentlessly," Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted soon after the arrests on Tuesday.

Sarma said the state government has identified at least 700 such brokers and police have been instructed to act against such persons. "We must end these unscrupulous acts and ensure that common people can walk into revenue offices in their areas and do the work on their own without paying any money to such brokers or middlemen," Sarma said.

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Sarma recently held a meeting of revenue officials in Guwahati in which he warned them to ensure that the brokers are not allowed to enter their offices. "When I was a cabinet minister, even I had to do my land-related work through one such broker. The situation has become such that common people don't go to the revenue offices as the officials do not perform their work without the brokers and money," he said in the meeting.

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