LAHORE: Indian Defence Minister Arun Jaitley told the Rajya Sabha that the revenue officials in Pakistan cheated them into paying rent for 265 kanal and one marla land which was located in Pakistan.
Indian army remained tenant for 31 years on Pakistani land and paid the rent on false documentation provided by a sub divisional defence estate officer. The revenue department had showed 265 kanal Pakistani land, which was a part of village Khamba in Rajouri district in Azad Kashmir, under army’s occupation on April 1, 1972 and took rent till March 2003.
“There are all together 9 reported cases relating to alleged payment of rent for land in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Out of these cases, the State Vigilance Organisation has filed FIR in one case and CBI has filed FIR in two cases,” he said.
Earlier, in four different videos released online, the 40-year-old constable Tej Bahadur Yadav of BSF’s 29th battalion had talked about the appalling situation of the BSF constables deployed at the Line of Control in occupied Kashmir and the tasteless and inappropriate food served to them.
“We only get a ‘parantha’ and tea as breakfast without any pickle or vegetables… For lunch, we get ‘dal’ (pulses) which only has ‘haldi’ (turmeric) and salt… with roti. This is the quality of the food we get… we slog for 11 hours and at times we have to stand throughout the duty hours… how can a soldier do his duty?” he said.