21,400 hectares under illegal possession of Army in Jammu and Kashmir, says Mehbooba Mufti

Over 21,400 hectares of land are under unauthorised occupation of Army and other security forces in Jammu and Kashmir, state legislative assembly was informed on Wednesday.

In a written reply, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti informed the House that over 18,846 hectares are under unauthorised occupation of the forces in Kashmir division including Ladakh.

She added that over 2,555 hectares of land are under unauthorised occupation of Army in Jammu division.

The chief minister maintained that this was in addition to thousands of hectares of state, acquired, requisitioned, leased and hired land under the illegal occupation of Army and other security forces in the state.

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Mehbooba, who also heads the home portfolio, shared the information in response to a question by National Conference legislator Sheikh Ishfaq Jabbar, who sought district-wise details of land occupied by security forces in the state.

The PDP leader said a major chunk of over 12,940 hectares of land are under the illegal occupation of Army and other security forces in Ladakh region, followed by 5,906 hectares in Kashmir valley and 2,555 hectares in Jammu division.

"Kishtwar in Jammu region is the only district where the Army and other security forces do not hold any unauthorised land," she said.

The chief minister said Leh district of Ladakh was leading the table with over 7,197 hectares of land under the unauthorised occupation of Army and other security forces, followed by Kargil (5,742.9 hectares).

North Kashmir districts of Bandipora and Baramulla together accounted for 3,403.8 hectares of land under the unauthorised occupation of security forces, she said.

In Kashmir division, Shopian district accounted for 31.3 hectares of land under unauthorised occupation of forces, lowest in the division, the chief minister added.